


Away For The Holiday

by Papperchains



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Christmas, Cliche, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Holidays, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Past Relationship(s), Strangers to Lovers, based on a movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 63,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21594790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papperchains/pseuds/Papperchains
Summary: Changmin hated Christmas, hated everything about it: from the mind numbing music, to the irritating tackiness. So naturally, accepting to write an article all about the magical season (in Gwangju, of all places), was not on the top of his to do list...Yet, desperate times call for desperate measures, and honestly, anything would be better than watching his ex get married.Besides, maybe getting away from it all could be the perfect way to rekindle some kind of enjoyment, of the festive season.
Relationships: Jung Yunho/Shim Changmin
Comments: 124
Kudos: 157





	1. December 1st

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm back and this time with a festive fic!!
> 
> This story is loosely based on the film The Holiday, but don't worry, you won't need to have watched it to get the full story~~
> 
> Thank you again to Teeg for not only being my beta, but for also giving me the idea to write it in the first place! 
> 
> I've been working on this for a while now, so I'm excited to start posting, I hope you all enjoy it!!

December 1st.

Changmin awoke to the shrill sound of his alarm going off. The local radio station tuning in and blasting his tired ears with extremely happy, extremely irritating, Christmas songs.

It was official: the festive period had begun.

The longest month in Changmin’s year. The most stress inducing, mind numbing, teeth grinding holiday season that he had to go through.

It was pretty safe to say that Changmin _hated_ Christmas. Hated everything about it.

He hated the songs, the obsession people had with gorging themselves stupid on terrible food, the capitalistic money making agenda that the majority of the world seemed to be blind too.

He hated the superficial behaviour people would display, the Christmas cheer he was expected to exude.

People put so much pressure on each other over the month of December — blaming it all on good spirit, and well wished when in reality, none of these people even cared about each other throughout the rest of the year.

And yet, Christmas was just growing — expanding — arriving earlier and earlier.

Sure, right now it was mostly kept to December. But how long would that last? November was becoming more and more merry with each passing year, and Changmin for one, did not wish it could be Christmas every day.

And on top of that. Above the extra work load, the needy people around him, and the general irritation that this time of year usually caused him: Hun, ex fiancé and unrequited love of his life, was getting married...

Yep, because as if anything could put Changmin in a worse mood than he already was, it was forcing himself out of his bed, down the hall just to have his eyes instantly falling on the hand delivered invitation, just _waiting_ for him, on the doormat.

He knew exactly what it was. Recognised the clean scripture, the two sets of initials.

He didn’t even have to open it, already able to _practically_ hear the words written bellow the expensive looking envelope.

But of course, because he was the sad, desperately annoying person, that apparently just wanted to cause himself pain, Changmin still went ahead and opened it.

As expected, it was an invitation to the wedding. The full day, and evening do included. Because, as if cheating on Changmin and breaking his heart wasn’t enough, Hun still wanted to keep him close, keep him hopeful. Pretend as if he ever had a chance, as if Hun would ever come running back to him.

Again, it was all fake. All to look good in front of their mutual friends, to show that even though they had well and truly broken up, _for good_ — that they could still go back to being the closest, best friends. As if nothing had changed from when they were still young twenty somethings... Or as if nothing had ever happened between them in the first place.

And, as it was expected of him, Changmin played along. He put on his usual up tight personality and presented himself as the hard working, uncaring man, that everyone perceived him to be.

That’s how it had been for the past two years, and that was how it was gonna stay.

As annoying as it was, it’s not like Changmin was gonna do anything to change it. Grimacing along to the same comments about how _nice_ it was to still be able to catch up as a group, about how _great_ it is that their failed relationship hadn’t effected their friendship.

Because of course, it didn’t matter that Changmin was still in love with the guy, it didn’t matter that Changmin was utterly heart broken.

He’d cry right now (reading over the invitation and looking at the plans that they had made, now in place for another wedding), if he hadn’t spent the last two years feeling like shit, and had pretty much come to the end of his tether for any emotions attached the the quote on quote: ‘happy couple’. So instead, he just sighed. Pinning the invitation to his fridge with a magnet, and moving to make himself his first morning coffee.

He had a long day ahead. Things were only gonna get busier in the office, as Christmas got closer, and Changmin needed to be as prepared as possible, if he was ever gonna survive it.

Finishing a basic, and relatively boring breakfast, he made his way back to his bedroom. Showering and dressing in quick succession before forcing himself out of the comfort of his home, and into the icy streets of Seoul.

Changmin worked as a journalist for the Seoul City. A news site that kept up to date on all important content and breaking news that the city had to offer. His job was to write a regular column, and interview people for specific articles.

For the most part, he loved his job. It was interesting, it was exciting, it had him running all over the city to find new articles, new people of interest — chasing stories and engaging his loyal readers.

He also loved the newspaper. Whatever it needed, he’d be there. Day or night, rain or shine. It was one of the things his friends would laugh about, pushing him on the shoulder and joking that he was more married to his work than he’d ever be to anyone else.

Of course, what they didn’t know, what that _that_ , was exactly what Hun had said to justify cheating, and in turn calling off their wedding.

In all honesty, he just liked the job because it kept him busy — kept him moving forward.

Not that it was particularly easy, to move forward, when your ex partner, ex fiancé, current love of your life, was working in the same office as you.

‘Never date your colleagues’ they said, ‘in work relationships don’t last’ they said, when both men started showing the first signs of being interested in each other. But of course, as young, new co workers would, they hadn’t listened. And after just over a year and a half of working together, and being friends, things had eventually moved from friendship to romance.

Changmin had been 25. He felt mature — he felt free — he felt grown up and ready for commitment. The two of them had known each other for sometime, by this point — had spent the best part of a year flirting, and were definitely ready to get to know each other outside of the office...

And, for four wonderful years, it had been perfect. _They_ had been perfect. The office romance, the talk of the paper.

Changmin was happy.

He was happy, and in love, and content with his life as a whole.

Being in this relationship made him work harder — so much so that he easily got promoted, taking on more hours and responsibility, and stacking up more projects and deadlines.

And Hun, it seemed, couldn’t be happy for him.

The more time Changmin spent at work, the more Hun became distant — bitter and jealous that it wasn’t him moving up the promotion ladder, that it wasn’t him being given these work related opportunities.

It all came to a head, when one day — Changmin, finishing early for once, had been eager to rush home to his fiancé, and spend a well deserved night off with him, only to catch him red handed in bed with a woman.

It’s was pretty clear from the get go, that this wasn’t a first time thing. And in fact, it was only after a long, tiresome yelling match between the two of them, that Hun had admitted the truth.

_Apparently_ the affair had been going on for months. _Apparently_ , he’d been planing on saying something soon.

Apparently, they were in love.

To say this clarification was painful, would be an understatement. Changmin was wrecked. Yet to the outside world, he held it in. Putting on his perfectly practiced mask of calm, and looking at the situation from a logical point of view.

Of course, he hadn’t stayed. Quickly packing up his things, and heading over to Kyuhyun’s place. His closest friend form college, and thankfully one of the only ones that wasn’t mutual between him and his now ex.

It had taken until he was all settled into Kyuhyun’s spare bedroom, for the walls he had built to go crumbling down.

He had cried that night. And every night after that for best part of a year. Feeling sorry for himself and still a little bit hopeful that it had all been a bad dream. That he’d wake up in his own bed again, next to the person he loved, on the run up to what would be the year of his wedding.

That, however, wasn’t the case. Changmin instead waking up to swollen eyes, tear stained cheeks and the sound of Kyuhyun making breakfast.

It was... disappointing, to say the least (heart shattering, and soul destroying to put it dramatically. And Changmin kind of liked a bit of drama from time to time).

Of course, he was extremely thankful for Kyuhyun’s hospitality, making it up to him by becoming the perfect house guest and helping him with both the cooking and the cleaning. But, not wanting to overstay his welcome, and also wanting to get his life on track, he’d moved back out by the end of the month. He just wanted his independence back. He no longer wanted to rely on the kindness of his friend.

Maybe it was to prove to the world, that he had what it took to get out there as a single man. Maybe it was more about proving it to himself. Either way it didn’t matter, and as January began, Changmin once again had his own place. A decently sized ground floor apartment, close to where he worked.

Continuing to work in the same job as Hun, had been another challenge all together. News of their break up had spread like wild fire, over the last few weeks, with friends and colleagues alike, no longer knowing how to act around the pair.

But that was nothing, compared to the way Changmin had reacted the day after their break up.

He’d walked into work with his head held high, deciding to push his fear down and get on with his day as if it was just any other.

This, however, still didn’t prepare him for coming face to face with Hun. His eyes instantly clouding over as panic rose in his system.

It had been excruciating. Calming himself down in order not to make a scene in the middle of the office, and starting whatever work he’d have to set his mind to.

That day had felt near impossible to complete. Mind racing, hours dragging. He felt stressed, and sad and broken. But still, against all odds, he persisted. After all, he loved this job. There was no way he was gonna let some shitty break up ruin his career. He’d worked too hard, given too much to just throw it away over some man.

On top of that, and despite everything he’d been put through, a stupidly hopeful part of Changmin still thought Hun would take it back; realise he had made a terrible mistake and come running — grovelling for forgiveness. And who would Changmin be, to say no to that? Sure, it might be a bit rocky at the start, but he’d forgive him. He’d do anything for him. Anything to have him back.

Again, his fantasy had never come true. And instead of his ex crawling back to him like he’d hoped, Changmin had just watched form a far corner, as he fell in love with someone else.

It was the woman he’d been with that night. They had met at a event or something... An event that Changmin had had to turn down, because of work.

And so, from his corner in the office, Changmin had observed. He’d seen the signs, little things he knew to be clues of Hun falling in love. Knowing that he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of that love, this time around.

All this knowledge served to do was break his heart a little more.

Life went on. Hun fell in love, and then proposed soon after. His new girlfriend saying yes, and excitedly accepting the ring that was supposed to be Changmin’s — easily slipping in and replacing any memories the two of them still had.

Changmin, secretly hoped this relationship would fall apart too.

As for Hun, he liked to keep Changmin at an arms length. There when he needed something, distant if he felt they were getting too close. The whole charade making it almost impossible for Changmin to properly move on.

“Changmin? Changmin... what about you?” His boss pipped up from the head of the table. They had been discussing plans for the Christmas season. Plans of action for the Seoul City, new ideas and interesting takes, something to get them through the cold winter period.

Having heard this all before, Changmin had quickly zoned out. Mind wandering off to thoughts of his ex, who’s ever bearing presence was as always, uncomfortably noticeable in the small meeting room — only being brought back to attention, when all eyes in the room turned to him.

“I’m sorry?” Changmin asked. Hating how monotone his voice sounded. Hating the smirk that appeared on Hun’s face, as if the asshole knew exactly what he was thinking about. Which, by this point and with how regularly he’d been zoning out over the passed few hours, Changmin was pretty sure he did.

His boss cleared her throat, raising her perfectly plucked eyebrows at him in slight disbelief, “I was just telling you about the article up for grabs. It’s about the Christmas season in Gwangju — apparently the city is promising something special for this holiday. As a way to promote tourism. Anyway, we’re gonna write an article on it and, as I know you won’t be busy, I was asking if you’d like to have it!”

_Gwangju? No thank you_. Changmin wrinkled his nose slightly.

There was only one thing worse than Christmas. And that was spending Christmas away from the comfort of his home, having to literally write an article about Christmas in a city he didn’t care for.

Besides, didn’t he write for Seoul City? Why’d he even have to write an article about another place anyway?

“Ah, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to pass.” Changmin apologised, giving his most convincing sympathetic smile (everyone in the office saw straight through it), “I’m actually busy this holiday, I have plans to visit family.” This was a blatant lie, but right now, with the whole office still looking his way, Changmin didn’t give a shit.

“Fine.” His boss sighed. “Well, I’ll talk to some other people but I know they all have family commitments too, so if by the end of the day no one is able to take it, we’re either gonna have to drop the story all together, or send one of you lot there anyway. I hope that’s clear.”

The staff all nodded, before being dismissed back to their own work stations.

And so, the day had progressed.

***

“Ah, Changminnie,” a familiar voice sounded from behind him. He was about half an hour away form the end of the day, and so far, he hadn’t been bothered by anyone. That was, of course, until his ex had snuck up when he wasn’t paying attention, making him jump stupidly, “woah now, no need to flinch, it’s just me.”

Changmin hated everything. “Hun, do you need something?”

“Of course not, Changmin. Do I need a reason to talk to my favourite office buddy?”

_Bitch we’ve had sex in this very office, how dare you fucking ‘buddy’ me_ , Changmin practically screamed in his head, clenching his jaw, and forcing a polite smile. “I suppose not.”

“Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m glad you're not leaving for Christmas.”

“Oh, really?” Changmin hated the way his heart lurched at his statement.

“Yeah. Well, pleased and surprised, to know that you’d be busy that is. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how much you hate this time of the year. Is this a first, for you to be meeting up with family for Christmas?”

Changmin shrugged, “We’re Buddhists, we don’t celebrate it in the Christian sense, but we do have our own traditions.” He sighed, rolling his eyes for having to explain himself yet again.

“In that case,” Hun continued without batting an eyelash, “if it’s all just an excuse to get out of writing that terrible article, then how about you help me with some of the wedding stuff — I assume you got the invitation?”

“Of course I got it... but I’m not sure. I really do have plans this holiday... sorry.” He added at the end, just because he couldn’t help feeling slightly bad about letting him down.

“Hey, I get it, how about I try calling round a few times? maybe I can just fit in with your busy schedule!”

“Ah, I see... that would probably work.” He reluctantly gave in.

“Great, thanks Chang, you’re a great friend.” With that, he was waking away, placing a condescending pat on his shoulder as he did so.

Changmin felt himself visibly deflate, collapsing down into his chair, and wishing for the ground to just a swallow him up.

By the end of that day, he had made up his mind. Striding into his boss’ office, once he was sure Hun had left for the day, and slapping the acceptance form on her desk: “I’ll do it.” He stated, waiting for her to look up form her computer and acknowledge what he’d said.

“Was there a change of plans, Changmin?”

“Yep,” Changmin lied once again, “my plans have fallen through, and I’ve decided that Gwangju sounds like the perfect place to stay this Christmas.”

His boss let out a laugh, “Good, because you're the only one in this entire company that does. Don’t worry Changmin, it will be really easy. You get a great little apartment and all the time and space you need to write about Christmas. All I ask is you don’t make it sound better then Seoul — we don’t won’t _too_ much competition now.”

“That shouldn’t be hard,” Changmin agreed, “So, when do I start?”

His boss seemed surprised at his enthusiasm, typing something into her computer and scrolling down a page, “Well, technically your apartment won’t be ready till the end of the week, but I can always get them to move the start day forward. That would get you there by tomorrow at the earliest.”

“That would be brilliant.” Changmin decided, already feeling eager to get out of Seoul and experience something totally knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter one done, I hoped you enjoyed!! 
> 
> I plan on updating this throughout December, and should have it complete by early jan at the latest.
> 
> See you in the next chapter~~


	2. The City of Gwangju

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two, hope you like it!!

As it soon turned out, going to Gwangju, of all places, during the Christmas season, was _not_ in fact ‘brilliant’.

Not trusting himself to drive in the icy, unpredictable weather, he’d settled on getting the train.

The train, that ended up being completely packed full to bursting point — carriages over flowing, people pushing for a seat.

It was busy, it was uncomfortable and Changmin was already regretting all his life choices that led him to this moment.

He had planned to get a head start on this article — work on an opening at least, or a plan for what he’d be trying to focus on over his month in the city. But he never got that far. Giving up his seat early on, for an elderly lady, and not getting another until much later in the journey.

By that point, he was stressed, and tired, and wanted nothing more than to sit down, and fully relax into the uncomfortable upright train seat.

_Gwangju train service: terrible._

He jotted this down in his journal, before breathing out a long sigh, and stowing it away for the rest of the journey. Not that he had long to wait now, the two and a bit hour travel time quickly coming to an end.

He exited the train along side the rest of the commuters, shouldering his way through the crowd in order to reach the exit. Then from there, all he had to do was make his way to the apartment, and finally he’d be able to settle in and grab himself something to eat.

Over the day, Changmin had stayed quiet about choosing to go on this trip. Deciding not to mention it to anyone that he worked with, and only leaving in the afternoon with a small wave and a fake, _see you soon_ to the other staff. None of them had batted an eye lid as he left, mumbling an illegible reply.

So, at this point in time, the only people who knew about his sudden departure was his boss, and Kyuhyun.

He had eventually decided to let his best friend know, realising that someone would need to look after his place and water his plants while he was away. One month was a long time to leave his apartment get cold and dusty. He didn’t want to start the new year in discomfort.

Kyuhyun had seemed confused by his sudden decision to leave: “But you hate Christmas!” He had stated, folding his arms as he watched Changmin fold a months worth of packing into his suit case.

“Well, turns out I hate weddings even more.” Changmin just shot back, handing the invitation with the end of December wedding date over, and watching as the penny dropped.

Why his ex and his new fiancé needed to have such a sudden marriage, Changmin wasn’t sure. But, he most definitely wasn’t going to stay around to find out.

“What a dickhead.” Kyuhyun had shaken his head, after reading through the invitation, dropping it into the recycling for good measure.

One thing Changmin had purposely done, was make sure Hun had know idea, about this little work trip going ahead. Smiling and nodding along to any talk of wedding planning, and how good it would be to work together over Christmas.

It felt nice for once, knowing he was going to let the other man down. He was in control, and he wasn’t gonna give a single fuck, if this work project got in the way of Hun’s ideas.

The owner of the apartment he’d be staying in for the next month had gotten back to his boss in no time. Agreeing that it would be ready for whenever he needed it, and handing over the passcode to enter.

Now it was simple. Grab a taxi directly from the train station, take the short trip to the apartment and let himself in.

From the outside, it was a basic looking building. Tall, high rise apartment block, nice, simplistic and modern with large glass windows and a fancy reception area, but nothing that Changmin hadn’t seen before — having lived in Seoul for the whole of his life.

He made his way in, greeting a few people as he entered and taking the lift to his floor. It was easy to locate the door that would lead him to his apartment, pinning in the code and watching as the opening unlocked.

The apartment was dark, quiet, cold and rather unwelcoming as he first entered.

No lights had been left on, and the heating also seemed to be off.

Letting out another sigh, Changmin discarded his suit case on the floor, and set about familiarising himself with his home for the next month.

It was a decent place, he was soon to find out, flicking the lights on and warming the space up.

Standing at slightly larger than Changmin’s own home, the apartment was fitted out with modern furnishings and cozy home comforts. There was a good sized kitchen diner, an open plan living room and a decently sized master bedroom.

Changmin couldn’t help but smile when he saw the bed — a thick, king sized mattress awaited him, adorned in soft, comfortable looking covers and enough throw pillows to make a full pillow fort with. The ensuite was also very nice — large shower looking very tempting after the cramped conditions of the train.

Right now, however, he was starving, and needed to make himself some good food to last him the evening. Showering and sleeping would have to wait, for the time being.

Deciding to cook himself something nice, Changmin made his way over to the fridge, rolling his eyes when he found it to be completely empty.

Next he went to the cupboards. Again, not a single food product in sight. It was... disheartening. The owner had assured him the place would be fully stocked and ready to live in by the time Changmin arrived, and yet here he was, standing in an apartment that looked as if it hadn’t been touched in forever.

Had something gone wrong? Did he have the right address?

No, he was supposed to be here, whatever it was wasn’t his fault — the owner had probably just lied, or maybe this was their idea of a ready house. Whatever it was Changmin couldn’t give a shit right now.

At least there was one good thing about this apartment (as empty as it was)… there was not a single Christmas decoration in sight. In fact, wondering through the place and back to the front entrance, Changmin could almost (almost) forget that Christmas was even happening right now, from the lack of festivities around him. That made a nice change. Maybe he could even pretend that he was here on a holiday, instead of some work related trip.

He shook his head, no, unfortunately the fact that he’d be having to write a Christmas overview on this city was definitely hanging over his head like a dark cloud. A grim reminder that he was only here because he agreed to be. Oh well, it was either this, or helping his ex get ready for his wedding, and Changmin knew which one he’d prefer.

Sighing to himself, he slipped back into his coat and shoes, before heading out of the apartment. There had to be a supermarket around here somewhere? This was a city, for fucks sake.

In the end, he had found one sooner than expected, slipping inside and making his way around the different isles.

To begin with, everything started off just fine. He shopped for ingredients that would sustain him for a few meals, being careful with what he bought and how much he spent.

However, by the end, he had completely chucked this plan away. He was here for Christmas and, as his boss so kindly reminded him, he needed to have some kind of Christmas cheer to write an appropriate article. So, why not act like everyone else and consume too much rich food and alcohol for one person? _Because_ , he thought almost bitterly, _if you can’t beat them, join them._ He might as well. Besides, maybe that would be the best way to survive what was bound to be a month from hell.

Grimacing at the Christmas song playing in the background, Changmin adding a bottle of mulled wine, red wine, and a cream liquor to his basket, along side some crackers and a wedge of cheese.

“Have a good Christmas!” The cashier stated, once Changmin had payed a small fortune on food and drink, that probably wouldn’t last him the week.

_I doubt it,_ Changmin though to himself, before forcing a smile of his own and gritting out a, “You too.”

He left the shop then, battling his way through the still busy street and back up to his apartment. It was icy, the sharp wind stinging his face and staining his ears red. He hated the winter. Hated being cold and yet, here he was facing a dark winters’ night alone, in a city he didn’t know.

This was a mistake.

Having lost all inspiration to cook, Changmin chucked a packet of ramen in a pot on the stove and cracked open the bottle of wine.

Because he hadn’t lost all self respect, he reached for a large wine glass, and poured himself a drink (he wasn’t desperate enough to just start drinking straight from the bottle), before heading over to the stove and giving his packet dinner a stir.

However, because he _had_ lost the majority of his self respect, he ate the ramen straight from the pan, slurping the salty broth, and not caring about what a sorry sight he probably made.

Once he'd finished eating, he abandoned the pan, and chopsticks in the sink, topped up his wine glass and slouched into the sofa.

He spent the next half hour or so flicking through the different channels, disappointed by the lack of decent TV that was airing at this time of the year. What was the point in this shit? No, he did not want to watch the Christmas addition, of what already looked to be a pretty terrible variety show.

After a few more minutes of this, he poured himself his third glass of wine, before retiring for the day — just because he wasn’t planning on starting any work till the Friday, didn’t mean he shouldn’t get an early-ish night. What was the point of getting away for the holiday, if he wasn’t gonna practice a little self care?

Bypassing the shower, Changmin finished his wine and slipped straight into bed. He could sort his life out tomorrow, right now all he wanted to do was relax into that wonderfully comfortable king sized bed.

***

The morning rolled around, and Changmin was rudely awakened by the sound of his phone going off — shrill ringtone reverberating through the quiet bedroom and disturbing him from his slumber.

His eyes snapped open, hand rummaging around for his phone on the bedside time, while he tried to wake himself up a bit.

There were two things, that grabbed his attention straight away (as soon as he grabbed his phone, and brought the device closer to his face). First, was the time: it was coming up to ten thirty in the morning. Changmin couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept in this late, even on his days off.

The next thing he noticed was the caller ID.

Hun’s name and face, staring up at him.

Without even thinking, he unlocked his phone, bringing it up to his ear and croaking out a sleep thick “Hello.”

Instantly Changmin was bombarded by the slightly exasperated voice of his ex. “Changmin? God I’m so glad I got through to you, did you know people are saying you're in Gwangju right now? Like how crazy it that?” He laughed, not giving Changmin a chance to answer before going on, “Anyway, are you ill? You sound pretty nasty over the phone right now... if your not coming in today that’s fine, but I desperately need to talk weddings with you — I’ve got my suit fitting on the weekend, and who knows what I’ll pick without your meticulous eye for detail!”

Changmin sighed. He couldn’t do this, couldn’t listen to this anymore. “Hun,” he started, waiting for his ex to finish lamenting, and properly listen to him: “I _am_ in Gwangju. Something came up and my plans change for the holiday, so I decided to go for this instead, I’ll be out for the whole month. But it’s okay, it’s not like I’m needed by anyone in Seoul.” He finished almost bitterly, suppressing a yawn, and flopping back against the comfortable pillows.

“Changmin, that’s not true, I need you!” Changmin hated the way his heart beat a little faster at that statement, already knowing this wasn’t what he so wished it would be. “The rest of my grooms men have terrible taste in fashion, I need you to make sure I look my best on the big day.” Changmin almost hung up right there and then, gritting his teeth and running a hand over his eyes, but it was the next words that made him deflate: “No one knows me like you do, Changminnie.”

_Fuck_ , that asshole knew exactly how to get to him, exactly what to say to make him come crawling back each and every time. “I’m sorry,” he found himself apologising, “but I’ve committed now, I won’t be back until January.”

Across the line, Hun sighed, he sounded disappointed. “I see, I guess there’s not much we can do then... I wish you’d talked to me before leaving...” there was a pause and yet another guilt inducing sigh, “Can I at least send you some pictures, form the suit fitting? You’d be really helping me out!”

Now it was Changmin’s turn to sigh, scrunching his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose, “Yeah, I don’t see why not.” He agreed, feeling like a pushover and a disappointment to himself. This was supposed to be _his_ time away from it all, and yet here he was, still connecting himself to the very man he was trying so desperately to distance himself from.

He hated the way his chest became warm at the sound of gratitude that traveled down the line, “Thank you _so much_ , Changmin you perfect man — I owe you one.” With that, he hung up, and once again Changmin was heaving out a loud sigh.

_Whelp_ , that wasn’t quite the start of the day he had been hoping for.

Deciding that it couldn’t possibly get any worse than that, Changmin headed for the kitchen, and in turn, to the half empty bottle of wine that was waiting for him.

There was no point facing this day without a little buzz in his system.

***

Much, much later on in the day, when Changmin had successfully finished another glass of wine, and made himself and another basic ready meal dinner, he decided that now, a full day after arriving, would be the perfect time to take that shower he’d been so craving.

Slipping out of the pyjamas that he’d been in all day, Changmin grabbed a dressing gown from the bathroom door, and walked into the ensuite.

The shower was fairly easy to operate, Changmin waiting a couple of seconds for it to warm up before stepping in under the spray, and relaxing into the hot flow of water.

It was perfect, completely luxurious and wonderfully soothing to his tense muscles. He let out a sigh, the water doing wonders to the headache he’d been suffering from all day, and allowing himself to finally ease the strain of the train journey from the evening before.

Why hadn’t he done this sooner? More importantly, why didn’t he have one of these showers in his own place? He could really do with something like this after every working day.

After washing, and probably using a little too much of the strawberry scented conditioner that had been provided, Changmin cut off the flow of water, and stepped out into the now steamy bathroom.

It was just as he was wrapping the dressing gown back around his body, and towel drying his hair, that he heard a sound.

The unmistakable noise of the front door clicking open, and a man’s voice whistling an off tune song.

Changmin froze. He had been assured that he’d get the apartment all to himself for the whole month, the owner had said that no one else would have the code and that he wouldn’t come over unless he was needed.

Panic started to rise in his system. Here he was, naked other than a bath robe, in a house that wasn’t his, in a city that he didn’t know, and _someone_ had just broken in.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck_ , he silently cursed. Slipping out of the bathroom as quietly as he could and making his way over to the bedroom door. He had to do something, he’d left his laptop out there, if this person, (or people, who knew how many were out there) was a thief, the first thing they’d go for was his laptop. And there was no way Changmin was gonna let that happen.

Grabbing a pillow from his bed, he very carefully opened the door, and glanced out.

From his position in the bedroom, all he could see was one man.

A tall man (possibly as tall as Changmin), with noticeably defined arm muscles, carrying a large box. _Great_ , Changmin gritted his teeth, this guy really was here to steal his stuff, what was he gonna do?

Taking a deep breath, he flung the door wide open, charging at the stranger with full force and aiming to smash the pillow into his face.

“Ah, what the?” The man cried, spinning around and easily catching Changmin’s fists, halting him in his movement before Changmin had a chance to inflict any damage whatsoever. “Shit? Are you the journalist?” The suspected thief ask. 

Changmin nodded, arms still raised above his head, hands still clasped in the other man’s grasp, breath coming out hard, “Who are you!”

“Oh, crap, I’ve messed up, I’m so so sorry.” The man in front of him apologised. There was a pause in which the two of them looked at each other, the newcomer coming to his senses first, before quickly dropping Changmin’s hands, and scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck, “You were arriving yesterday, weren’t you?”

Changmin nodded again.

“I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I forgot about that...” he ran his hand over his face, bringing Changmin’s attention to his annoyingly attractive features. “I literally remember sending that email about you arriving earlier, and yet, I still forgot, that’s so terrible of me.”

Now, the man cracked a sheepish, but still ridiculously bright smile, sticking out his hand and offering it to Changmin, “I’m Yunho, by the way. I own this place, please forgive me for not having it all set up and ready for you.” With that he was bowing, clasping Changmin’s still showered damp hand in his own, and tilting his head down.

“I’m Changmin.” Changmin introduced, feeling slightly lost by the whole situation.

It was at that moment that both of them seemed to realise the state of undress that Changmin was in. Damp from the shower, hair dripping against his neck, throw pillow in hand, and dressing gown, falling somewhat open to expose his bare chest.

Yunho straightened up at the same time that Changmin rearranged the material around himself. The host hurriedly forcing his eyes to look away, while Changmin turned a not so subtle shade of red, not missing the way the other man’s gaze had seemed to linger on his bare skin.

Now thinking about it, the fact that this suspected burglar had removed his shoes and draped his coat by the door, should probably have been a clear indication that he probably wasn’t here to steal anything.

“Anyway,” Yunho cleared his throat, “I only came to drop off some food and put up some decorations, so just ignore me, and I’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

“Don’t.” Changmin cut in before he knew what he was saying.

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t put up the decorations.”

“Oh, not a Christmas fan?”

“You could say that again...”

Yunho nodded slightly, “Well, fair enough, can’t say I blame you, I don’t see much point in it myself.”

“Oh?” That was new, something he wasn’t used to hearing. “Do you not celebrate it in your family?”

“Oh no, we do... I just don’t care much for it.” There was definitely something more there. Something below the small smile, and suddenly tired looking eyes. Something Changmin couldn’t quite decipher. “Right, anyway, I’ll get the shopping put away and leave you in peace, sorry again, Changmin. It was good meeting you.”

“Like wise...” Changmin nodded, once again becoming painfully aware of the lack of clothing he was currently adorned in, and excusing himself from the main living space.

Back in the safety of his bedroom, he closed the door, leaning heavily against it and letting out a sigh of relief.

Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind, of toned arms and big hands pinning his wrists down. That was definitely _not_ what he needed, not when he was trying to work, and especially not when he was trying to get over someone. His body felt hot all over.

Letting out another, steadying sigh, he busied himself with getting into something more appropriate.

Five minutes later, he once again left his bed room, this time fully dressed and with dry hair.

Yunho was just finishing stocking the supplies.He paused when he saw Changmin, holding up a bag of toiletries in one hand, “Just a few things for the bathroom.”

“Oh, thanks,”

“No problem, do you mind if I go in?” Yunho asked, tilting his head in the direction of the bedroom.

“Right, sure, no that’s fine... I should probably put this back as well.” Changmin rambled, picking up the pillow he had previously used as a weapon and holding it somewhat awkwardly in one hand. “After you,” he offered, attempting to smile convincingly in Yunho’s direction.

Yunho, not noticing the pinched, tight lipped edge to it, grinned back — heading straight for the bedroom with a spring in his step.

“So, what _was_ the pillow for anyway?” He questioned, cocking his eyebrow as he watched Changmin return it to the neatly made bed.

“Um, for self defence... obviously...” he shrugged, trying (and failing) not to blush once again.

“But a pillow? Literally anything would have been more effective then a pillow...”

“Yeah, I know I panicked... sorry about trying to attack you, by the way.” Changmin apologised, watching as the man in front of him let out a laugh, and shook his head slightly.

“Don’t sweat it! I surprised you, so really it’s on me.” Yunho assured, placing the toiletries in the bathroom before heading back out and stopping in the doorway, “Besides, it was... endearing. I mean kinda terrifying, but also endearing.” He shrugged casting his gaze down almost shyly. “Anyway, I’m all done now. So, thanks for not knocking me out with a pillow, and I’m sorry again for being a terrible host. I’ve left my number on the fridge, so if you ever need anything — absolutely anything at all — just call me, I’ll try and sort something out.” He smiled once again walking towards the exit.

“Oh, also if you're struggling to start on the article thing, I can always give you a tour of the city! I don’t know if that would really be of any help, but it’s something.”

He’d slipped back into his shoes and jacket, hoisting the Christmas decoration box back into his arms and directing the last comment towards Changmin.

“Thank you,” Changmin smiled, slowly becoming used to the other man’s bright personality, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Thats great! Good night, Changmin.” And with that, he was once again walking away, the apartment suddenly feeling a lot more empty, than it had before.

_Watch out for Gwangju men_ , was the next thing to be jotted down, _they may try and walk into your life unannounced._


	3. Friday

Friday was soon upon Changmin, the day he had decided to start writing this damned Christmas article.

There were several things he needed to do, before throwing himself head first into the writing process. Several things, that he used as a kind of mantra to focus him on knew projects.

It went a little something like this:

One: head out for the day, it doesn’t matter where, just get out and look for inspiration. This was pretty handy when the article was about a specific location (this time, the city of Gwangju) meaning that Changmin could comfortably spend his time in coffee shops and walking the streets — with no time limit, and no restrictions on were he could, and couldn’t go.

Number two: talk to someone. It didn’t matter who. Young, old, local, tourist. Ask them about their opinions on the subject. Once their answer had been written down, ask someone else. He’d keep doing this until he had a good idea of what people thought on the subject matter.

Three: make notes. Changmin would always spend a long time recording what he saw, he’d write everything down. Start mind mapping, come up with subheadings, come up with topics. Start thinking about what needs to be conveyed to the readers. At this step, he also found it helpful to keep a few reference pictures. Snapping photographs on his phone, in order to look back at a later date.

Step four: form an opinion. It’s important for a reader to grasp how Changmin feels about a subject. However, for this, as Christmas was a universally loved celebration, Changmin would probably have to fake his thoughts, to make it reader friendly.

And that was pretty much it, resources, time and rambling words that would eventually become something legible for Seoul City readers to enjoy.

Deciding to work to his usual routine, Changmin set out on a walk.

It was a fresh day, but thankfully not as cold as the night he arrived, Changmin feeling comfortable in his coat without the need of a thick scarf and woollen gloves, that he for some reason had neglected to bring with him.

He wasn’t too worried about this, knowing it made things a lot easier for him — less to wear meant less to carry, and when walking around a city for the day, Changmin always found that simplicity was the key to success.

The street he was staying on was already rather festive, lights strung around and decorations up in shops.

It wasn’t as bright at Seoul, but, he couldn’t deny it still had a charm to it.

Instantly, Changmin noted this down, describing the twinkle of the displays and trying to get into the head of a window dresser. What would sell at this time of year? Who was the target audience?

Even some of the market stalls were decked out in holiday products — selling Christmas trash for half the price of the high street.

He started with his local area, working his way around the different shops and street markets before hopping on a subway and heading to one of the main shopping centres.

It was a large, modern space — packed full of locals and holiday makers alike, and decked out in as many Christmas decorations as possible.

Changmin instantly took a disliking to it. It was crowded, noisy, tacky — all things that he’d rather stay away from at this time of the year. However, he persevered, deciding this would be a good place to begin his question asking.

The more he talked to people, the more he found that the Christmas cheer was already well and truly alive, in the city of Gwangju.

Sure, there were one or two people who didn’t care that much — not interested in starting their preparation until at least the next week, but for every less-enthusiastic person, there were ten or more people practically bursting with all things merry.

There were young family’s queuing for Santa’s grotto, young couples preparing for their first Christmas together, friends looking for the best presents and elderly couples watching from the safety of the seats, with a sparkle in their eyes.

The majority of the people he spoke to said they were looking forward or already excited for the big day — at least half of them putting it down to the city and the atmosphere that it had created, at this time of the year.

“It’s good to see Gwangju become recognised for something like this,” One elderly lady said, “I’ve lived here my entire life, and I’d like to see it gain some more popularity.”

Others had some doubts: “Who do you write for?” One man asked, frowning as he looked up at Changmin.

“The Seoul City, Sir.” Changmin explained, smiling kindly back at him as he spoke.

“Well, I don’t want too many people flocking here. This city’s busy enough as it is.” He scoffed back.

Changmin noted that down.

By the end of the day, once he’d returned to the apartment he’d be calling home for the month, Changmin had an assortment of opinions and his own ramblings on the city’s and its people.

To be fair, he was struggling a little. So far the best thing he’d been able to come up with was: _Gwangju, a city decked out for the festive season — some people love it, some people don’t love it as much._

And _— Is more tourism actually a good thing?_

It was a start, albeit a slow one, but a start nonetheless. However, the more Changmin tried to put down on paper, the more he felt he was missing something — a crucial bit of insider knowledge that would give his writing the familiar feeling most readers enjoyed.

From his position at the table, he automatically glanced over to the fridge, eyes instantly landing on the messy hand written number that was still pinned there.

Maybe he should ask for Yunho’s help, just for a couple of days, or something.

No, he couldn’t… Changmin shook this train of thought away, the man was obviously busy, and after their first disastrous meeting, he wanted to put as much distance between him and his host as possible. Instead, he removed himself from the table, and headed to the wine rack — maybe a bit of mulled wine would get him into the Christmas spirit.

It didn’t, and when he was about two thirds of the way through the bottle, the only thing it had served to do was make him tipsy and feel slightly sick from the copious amount of sugar that was included in the warm beverage.

To make it worse, apparently, slightly drunk Changmin, at ten p.m. was feeling lonely.

To try and get rid of the empty feeling that had entered his chest, he picked up his phone, and scrolled through his contacts.

For a few minutes, he debated who to call, lingering on his ex’s name for a little _too long,_ before feeling mad at himself for even considering that and scrolling on to the next one.

Slightly drunk Changmin was not phoning his ex... Slightly drunk Changmin had found out the hard way that _that_ , was a terrible idea. 

Next he skipped passed Kyuhyun’s contact. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to his closest friends, it’s just that he didn’t want to make him worry. Changmin was _fine_... 100% fine and not at all dwelling on his past relationship or the fact that he did not want to be in Gwangju anymore, especially not to write this stupid article that he obviously didn’t care about in any way. How was he gonna be convincing, when he hadn’t made any effort to celebrate Christmas in years?

Deciding that he really _did_ need some help with this job, Changmin walked over to the fridge and typed the number that was pinned there into his contacts, before pressing call.

Was ten p.m. too late to call, would Yunho be asleep? Would he get angry?

After he still hadn’t picked up at the third ring, Changmin (pushing down the strange sense or disappointment), decided that he should just hang up now, when: “Hello, Jung Yunho speaking, who is this?”

Changmin almost let out a yelp at the voice — having not expected anyone to pick up.

“Yunho!” He started, trying to disguise the drunk in his voice, “I’m really struggling with this article.”

There was a pause, Changmin completely sure Yunho was about to hang up, or yell at him for being drunk and calling him this late at night.

Bracing himself for what was bound to come, he waited. However, neither of these things happened: “Changmin?” Yunho spoke, voice sounding almost soft over the line, “is everything alright?”

Changmin shook his head before remembering Yunho couldn’t see him, “Yeah, it’s me Changmin, and no, I’m stuck. I hate Christmas, and I don’t want to be here, and I have to write a stupid article about this stupid season, and I don’t even know where to start.” He rambled, not even caring that Yunho was a complete stranger, and that he was probably over sharing.

Instead of replying straight away, Yunho just chuckled. And _oh_ , what a sound. Changmin found himself holding his breath — ears drinking in the rumble of the other man’s laugh — as perfect as his smile, loud, a bit dorky but at the same time effortlessly flawless.

“Are you drunk, Changmin?” He asked.

Now that wasn’t fair, it wasn’t Yunho’s place to laugh at his tipsiness. Changmin was asking for his help and the only thing the other man could be assed to talk about was if Changmin was drunk?

“What if I am?” He scoffed in return.

“Well, are you?”

“Only a little, but that’s not the point, are you gonna help me or not?” He pouted.

There was another pause, followed by another chuckle, “And how exactly do you want me to help you?” He asked.

“I don’t know...” Changmin hadn’t thought this far ahead, not even expecting to get Yunho on the phone, so easily. “You said something about taking me around the city? Maybe it would be handy to see things from the eyes of a local?”

“Okay, I can do that. When are you free.”

“Tomorrow, Sunday, all the days until January first.”

“Okay,” Another chuckle, “well, how does Monday sound? Weekends are my busiest days...”

_Of course_ he was busy, this poor guy probably only offered to help the other day out of kindness and a little leftover guilt from forgetting about him, Changmin shouldn’t be dragging him away from his responsibilities because he needed _help,_ with something he was being payed to do.

Even so, he found himself nodding, “Yeah, Monday’s fine.”

“Great!” Yunho sounded genuinely happy about the arrangement, “I’ll pick you up at nine a.m.,”

“Oh, okay, yeah nine a.m. see you then.” With one last goodbye, Changmin was hanging up.

Well, that was a lot easier the he was expecting.

He felt a smile creep onto his face, maybe things would start going a lot smoother, now that he had a tour guide.

***

Saturday arrived with a headache.

Maybe deciding that the last of the mulled wine might as _well_ be finished up was not his smartest of ideas. Maybe staying up way too late researching Gwangju hadn’t helped, on top of that.

Because now, here he was, nursing a hangover, and lying stretched out in his comfortable king sized bed at midday, feeling sorry for himself, and once again regretting all his life choices.

Deciding that he’d wallowed in self pity enough for one day, he forced himself out of bed and into the shower, washing away last nights drinking session and allowing the hot water to soothe his aching head.

He felt a little more himself, once he stepped out.Drying, and dressing before making his way out into the living room. It was bright throughout the rest of the apartment, Changmin having forgotten to close the blinds the night before, and, as he made his way passed the front entrance, he couldn’t miss the small envelope lying on the dormant.

He stoped, frown forming, before bending down and taking a closer look.

On the envelope, was written his name — hand writing the same messy scrawl that was attached to the number on the fridge.

Full of curiosity, Changmin ripped into the paper, pulling out a small note and a box of pain medication.

_Good morning, Changmin._

The note read,

_I didn’t want to disturb you this morning, but I realised I hadn’t given you any pain killers as part of the supplies, and I had a feeling you might be needing some today._

_Hope you’re alright, and see you on Monday._

_YH_

__

Looking down at the tablets in his hand, Changmin couldn’t help but smile. That was… sweet. He wasn’t expecting that.

With a new kind of happiness in his system, he made his way into the kitchen and _finally_ made himself something for breakfast.

As he ate, he pulled out his journal, writing down a new thought.

It read — _the kindness of strangers._

_***_

He had written off that day for the most part, looking over his notes briefly before placing them down and busying himself with something else.

That something else ended up being cooking, finally using the ingredients that he had bought and the food that Yunho had delivered, to make himself a proper meal.

He’d had a couple of days of sulking and now, he could no longer justify eating crap for the sake of it, especially as it was doing absolutely nothing to get him in the Christmas spirit. He no longer had any excuse.

As he cooked, he started to finally feel at home — settling into the new location and slowly becoming used to the routine that he’d be living in, over the next few weeks.

Everything was kind of falling in to place, the apartment was nice, the city wasn’t half as boring as he’d expected it to be, and he even had someone who was willing to make his life easier and show him around the local area.

Maybe this month wouldn’t be half bad.

His spark of positivity soon fizzled out, being washed away by the sound of his phone going off.

Snapping his head up, he quickly became distracted from the meal.

His heart instantly dropped. Eyes falling on the annoyingly familiar face staring up at him. Was it that time already? How had he forgotten?

Deciding not to put off the inevitable, he opened the message.

_Changmin, hi._

_How’s the job going? I hope you're not having too much fun without me?_

_Anyway, as promised, here are the suits I tried on today. I can’t decide which one will work best but I think it’s either 2 or 5._

_Which one looks best in your opinion?_

_It would have been so much easier if you were there today, the rest of us are hopeless._

Changmin sighed, this wasn’t fair, this asshole didn’t deserve a second of his time, Changmin owed him nothing.

Even so, he still found himself glancing over the pictures and taking in his ex, in all his glory: dressed in beautiful and expensive suits.

_Fuck him_ , it’s like he wanted Changmin to hurt. Wanted Changmin to see what he could have had if he had cared more about their relationship than his job.

Hun looked _amazing_ in all six outfits. Posed perfectly, material accentuating his long legs and broad shoulders. And Changmin, Changmin wanted to disappear.

A lump formed in his throat as he looked over the images again and again.

It just wasn’t fair. This should have been for _his_ wedding, they should have been shopping for matching suits and matching rings. He had had it all, and he let it slip, let it go, and it hurt. It hurt to know that Hun no longer cared, no longer had any feelings towards him other than forced friendship and indifference.

It hurt to see him in the arms of someone else, _in love_ with someone else, _getting married_ to someone else.

It hurt, and Changmin no longer wanted anything to do with it.

Deciding that he wasn’t going to stand for this anymore, he deleted the message, then deleted Hun’s number for good measure.

_There_ , he thought bitterly, _I no longer need to answer to you._

And now, because his evening had been ruined, and his eyes were still glassy with unspoken emotion, he walked back over to his wine rack and opened a fresh bottle — one glass wouldn’t hurt.


	4. Christmas Coffee

For once, one glass didn’t turn into two and two didn’t turn into three. Changmin once again feeling sorry for himself, decided to head to bed instead of drink himself sorry.

He hadn’t cried that night. Refused to let the tears fall. He’d spent _too long_ , too many hours, weeks, years feeling shit about this, he was not going to waste anymore time on the asshole that was his ex.

Of course, that didn’t mean everything was magically okay. He still felt like shit, he just wasn’t dehydrating himself because of it.

Sunday had been a pretty uneventful day.

He’d gotten up at a respectable time, showered, dressed, ate. Before sending a quick text to Yunho.He wanted to apologise, about calling him late at night, about being drunk, and about complaining about having to be in Gwangju — a city his host obviously loved.Then, he thanked him for the pain relief, letting him know that they _had_ been very helpful, and well received this morning.

He had just set off on re-reading his notes for the second time when his phone went off, Yunho getting back to him quickly.

_Hi, how are you feeling? I hope your hangover wasn’t too bad yesterday._

_You don’t have to apologise, in fact I’m glad you called because it meant I could help, I hate to think that you’d just be suffering by yourself. Maybe just go easy on the drink next time!! Or not, of course, I mean, it’s compactly up to you._

_As for the city, just give me a few days and I’ll promise to change your mind on that, or at least try!_

Changmin couldn’t suppress the smile that formed on his face. He hardy knew this guy and yet Yunho was being more thoughtful than the majority of the people he counted as ‘friends’, in his life back home

Once again he found himself looking forward to the next day — the promise of Yunho’s company exciting, on a Monday he’d otherwise be spending alone.

***

The morning arrived, and Changmin made sure he was completely up and ready, in plenty of time before Yunho would be arriving.

He was just busying himself with neatening up the apartment, when there was a knock at the door.

Dropping what he was doing, Changmin rushed over, and pulled it open.

As expected, Yunho was waiting for him outside. Dressed casually and comfortably, while he leant against the door frame with an air of ease. He looked happy, straightening up once Changmin had made his appearance, and flashing a bright smile.

“Hi,” he grinned, “you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Changmin shot back, a small smile of his own slipping onto his face. “Where are we heading anyway?”

“Ah, you’ll just have to wait and see, don’t worry though, I’ll only take you to the best places.” He replied with a wink, turning on his heals and glancing back to make sure Changmin was still following.Which he was, of course, because apparently when a good looking stranger promised to take him somewhere nice, Changmin couldn’t say no.

Pausing for a second, Changmin blinked: did he really think Yunho was attractive?

Of course, there was no denying that he _was_ attractive, but that didn’t mean he was ready to admit it... the same mental image of Yunho’s large hands clasped around his, popped back into his head. _Fine_ , maybe it wasn’t such a surprise that Changmin though he was hot.

Even now, wrapped in a thick jumper and long scarf, Yunho still looked gorgeous — legs filling his jeans perfectly and outfit giving off an effortless, yet stylish feel. Changmin almost felt overdressed in his roll neck jumper, long coat and jeans combo.

Yunho had parked just outside the building, unlocking the car, and opening the passenger door for Changmin.“Thanks,” he smiled, slipping into his seat and watching at Yunho made his way round to his side.

Driving with Yunho, sure was something... It’s not that Changmin felt unsafe in the car with him, no, he wouldn’t go that far... but that didn’t mean he felt particularly comfortable either.

Yunho drove like he owned the roads — fast and with little thought towards the rest of the traffic.

It was obvious that he took this journey regularly, tapping on his steering wheel to the beat of the song playing on the radio, while being completely unaware of the white knuckle grip Changmin had on his seat belt.

“So you work for the Seoul City, right?” He piped up at one point, turning his whole face towards Changmin and seeming not to care when a car beeped loudly at him.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“So why are you here? I mean this is _Gwangju_ , not _Seoul_ , and you said you hate Christmas, so why would you want to write a whole article about it?” There was no malice in the question, just curiosity. 

“Well,” Changmin wasn’t sure of where to start, how much to say... “um well, because my boss needed someone to go, and as I never have any plans for Christmas, she though it would be perfect for me.” He settled on. It was the truth, just not all of it.

“Do you normally drop everything for work?” Yunho joked back, flashing a toothy grin in his direction.

Changmin grimaced, “So I’ve been told.”

This seemed to sober Yunho’s laughter, the other man instead offering him a vigorous nod, “Oh, well that shows good commitment, you must really love your job.”

“I do,” Changmin agreed, glancing back towards Yunho, “Yeah, I love my job, I just have trouble remembering that sometimes.” There was a pause, “So what do you do?”

“Me?” Yunho seemed genuinely surprised that Changmin was engaging him in the same conversation.

“Yeah, you!” Changmin laughed back.

“Oh, well I own property mostly, you know, the place you live, as well as a couple other holiday apartments and several places that I rent out for longer periods of time.”

“I see,” Changmin nodded, “so do you take all your holiday guest out?” He questioned, “Or am I just special?”

His comment had Yunho laughing so hard, that for a moment, Changmin feared he’d caused a car crash. No such thing happened, luckily, and despite the speed they were traveling at, and the way Yunho shook his head and seemed to scrunch his eyes completely shut, he stayed in perfect control of the wheel.

“What can I say, you must be something special. I don’t believe I’ve ever taken one of my holiday tenants out anywhere.” He said between laughter, smiling wide and shaking his head once more.

Changmin would take that.

They were about ten minutes into the journey by this point, Yunho taking them off the main roads and down a couple of smaller streets.

“So, seriously, where are we going?” Changmin tried once more, feeling slightly curious about where Yunho was taking him.

“Do you not like surprises?” Yunho asked.

Changmin just shook his head, “Not really,” he admitted somewhat sheepishly, letting out an awkward chuckle as he waited for Yunho to react.

“No? Okay, we’re heading to my favourite cafe. It’s a little out of the way, but it’s fairly quiet, nice, and a good place to work, so I thought we could start there.”

“Oh, thank you, I wasn’t actually expecting you to tell me so easily.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Yunho sounded genuinely confused. “You said you don’t like surprises, I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Well, thank you.” Changmin settled on, feeling himself relax slightly more now that he knew the initial plan.

They had arrived soon after that, Yunho pulling into a near by parking space and the two of them exiting together.

Upon entering the shop, they were hit with the scent of Christmas drinks, and the sound of Christmas music. Changmin rolled his eyes, sticking close to Yunho’s side as they made their way towards the counter.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten that you don’t like Christmas, but just remember that I’m not that into it either, and technically, this is helping — you know, because your article is about Christmas.”

“Yeah, okay,” Changmin chuckled, “so it’s definitely _not_ because you like the super sweet Christmas coffees that they do here?” He joked, nodding in the direction of the specials board that was decorated in paper snow flakes, and cute little snowman drawings.

“Fine, you got me, Christmas drinks are one of the plus sides to this time of year, don’t you think?”

“I’m gonna have to disagree with you there,” Changmin laughed, “I hate gimmicky drinks, they’re one of the worse things. Like, why would you ruin something with copious amounts of sugar?”

“You’re a tough one aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Changmin shrugged. Suppressing another smile.

They were at the front of the line by that point, the waiter looking at at them expectantly. Yunho placed his order first (some kind of winter spiced, caramel macchiato). Changmin just ordered an americano.

They waited for their drinks, making their way over to a table for two near the back, once they had been served.

“So the first thing I want to know,” Yunho began, taking a sip of his coffee and giving himself an adorable milk froth moustache, “Do you celebrate Christmas at all?”

“Aren’t I supposed to be asking the question here? You know, for my article?” Changmin quipped back, trying (and failing) not to watch as Yunho licked the sweet foam from his lip.

“Yeah, I know, just humour me for a moment,”

“Fine,” Changmin rolled his eyes, lips quirking, “no,I don’t really celebrate it, me and my family are Buddhists, but although we did stuff when me and my sisters were young, we just kind of grew out of it, I guess. That and I became aware of all the backwards, money making schemes and other bullshit that people seem to become obsessed with at this time of the year.”

Yunho just nodded, “Okay, thank you for telling me.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

Changmin scoffed slightly, “Come on, why is Christmas ‘not your thing’.”

“Oh that,” there was something in his voice, something reluctant as he spoke, as if he was trying to come up with something on the spot, as if he was regretting his past words. “I just don’t like the, the tackiness of it all...”

“ _Sure,_ ” Changmin didn’t believe a word of it, “says the guy who just brought a... sorry, what coffee did you get? A Christmas spice—”

“Uh, it’s a winter spiced, caramel macchiato, I think you’ll find.”

“Yeah well, you just made my point — that’s, like, the tackiest drink on the whole menu.”

“Okay, you may be right with that.”

“So...?”

Yunho sighed, “I don’t really know, I guess I just don’t like it, anymore.” He shrugged, “Sorry that I can’t give you better answer.” There was definitely something else there, something he was reluctant to share. For now Changmin let it slide, after all, they were only just getting to know each other.

“It’s fine, how about you tell me why you like this place instead?”

With that Yunho easily lunched into action, telling Changmin all about how he found the cafe and why he grew to love it so much.

Apparently it was just something to do with the atmosphere, the smiling staff, the relaxed music and talking guests — Yunho falling in love with the place (as he put it) the moment he stepped foot through the doors.

While listening, Changmin felt compelled to note this down, sure it wasn’t about Christmas per se, but it was about Gwangju, and that at least, was a start.

They spent some time walking around that area, taking in some of the quieter streets and the more ornate Christmas shop displays.

Changmin noted down what he saw, trying to look at the city through the eyes of someone else, see it from both a locals and a tourist point of view.

By the time it was nearing 3pm, Changmin had two full pages of writing to sort through, and several sugary coffees in his system (Yunho convincing him to go for a cinnamon latte, and a creamy mocha for his next two drinks).

They were just driving back to the apartment, when his phone began to ring.

Without much thought, he halted the conversation he was having with Yunho (something about the best way to organise Christmas shopping), and pulled out his phone, frowning slightly when an unknown caller became displayed on screen. “Sorry,” Changmin apologised, “do you mind if I just take this?”

“Go ahead, you don’t have to apologise,” Yunho agreed.

Flashing a small, but genuine smile, Changmin answered the call: “Hello?”

“Changmin, why didn’t you reply to me?” It was Hun, _of course_ it was Hun — voice raised slightly and with obvious irritation, “Come on Chwang, how could you let me down like that? I was relying on your input!”

“Hun.” He gritted out in return, “do you really, _really_ need my opinion on something as easy as wedding suits?” He sighed.

“Yes,” Hun sighed back, Changmin could practically see the way his jaw would be clenching and unclenching, “Changmin, how many times do I need to say it, no one knows me like you do — I value your opinion.”

Changmin sighed once more — feeling all fight leave it body, “Fine... honestly, I don’t know why you’re worrying so much, you looked gorgeous in all the suits,” he didn’t miss the stupid sound of appreciation that could be heard across the line, “But, if you want my opinion, then you’re right: two and five are definitely the best — either one will be perfect.”

“Thanks Changmin you absolute star, I could kiss you, you’ve just made my life so much easier.”

Changmin let out a weak chuckle, hating how pathetic his voice sounded, and the noticeable glance of concern Yunho sent in his direction.

“Well, I’m glad I could help.” He felt drained, chest aching as the last words left his mouth, “but maybe, try working it out by yourself next time. I’m not the one you’re choosing to marry, remember?”

There was a long pause, the only way Changmin knew Hun was still on the line, was because of the steady intake of breath that could be heard. Then finally, “Well, thanks again man, I’ll probably speak to you soon.” With that he was hanging up, and Changmin was letting out a shuddering breath.

_Great_ , what a way to ruin a so far perfect day.

“You okay, Changmin?” Yunho asked, eyes large and concerned, as Changmin shoved his phone back into his pocket, with a bit more force than was necessary.

“Yeah,” Changmin shook his head, “it’s nothing, that was nothing.”

Yunho didn’t look so convinced, but thankfully, he let it drop. Instead keeping quiet for the rest of the drive, and only speaking once they had arrived back at the apartment.

“So...” Yunho hesitated, “same time tomorrow?”

“Well, only if I’m not taking up too much time or anything...” Changmin shrugged back, not wanting to be a burden on the other man.

“No, of course you’re not, in fact, I insist, there’s so much more of this city I want to show you, and I don’t believe you’ve gotten everything for your article yet, right? So it only makes sense that I help you out some more.”

Something in his chest gave a sharp tug, momentarily distracting Changmin from his ex, and making his smile from before reappear. “Okay, Yunho. It’s a date.”With that, he exited the vehicle, waving once before making his way back into the apartment.


	5. Christmas Shopping

Tuesday came and went too quickly, Yunho arriving at nine a.m., with the same bright smile, and the same promise to take Changmin somewhere exciting for the day.

“Hi Changmin,” He grinned the moment the door was opened, “I was thinking we could check out some shops today, I have a bit of Christmas shopping to do, and thought it would be a good way to show you the independent businesses I like to buy from — it might also be a good chance to get some more views on Christmas in the city, from the people who run the businesses, and the ones that shop there.”

“That… actually sounds like a really good idea.” Changmin agreed, nodding once, before heading towards where he stored his shoes and coat, “I’ve been wanting to check out the independent shops, but in all honesty, I had no idea where to even start… so thanks.”

Having taken in what Changmin said, Yunho couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh: “You don’t have to thank me, seriously, I’m happy to help. And anyway, technically you’re helping me… I should have started this shopping last week at the latest, but I’ve kinda been procrastinating…”

“Well, that makes two of us!” A chuckle slipped from Changmin’s lips, as he shook his head slightly, “My friends all celebrate Christmas,” He added, as some kind of explanation, “And, believe it or not, I do like to buy them _something_ … even if it’s only paying into the capitalist agenda that has taken over this holiday season.”

“Wow, you must be a really fun person to be around…” Yunho deadpanned, lips quirking as he gently elbowed Changmin in the side.

“Fuck you, I am definitely a _fun person_ ,” Changmin scoffed in fake annoyance, “You just need to get to know me first.”

“I’d like that.”

“Hmm?”

“I’d like to get to know you, that is.”

“Oh,” Changmin felt the argument he had prepared falter, mind momentarily falling quiet and face heating up.

Thankfully, Yunho didn’t seem notice the subtle shade of red he had suddenly changed to, instead grinning once more in his direction, before turning around and heading towards the apartment door, “Anyway, we should head off to try and beat the traffic, I imagine it’s gonna get kinda busy today… Hope you like crowds, Changdol.”

“Changdol?” Changmin spluttered after him, blinking a few times before rushing to catch up with the other man, “Who are you calling Changdol?”

All he got in reply was another perfect laugh, and a strange flutter in his chest.

***

Just as Yunho had promised, the city was packed. Families, business men, couples, staff all rushing from A to B. Too busy to slow down, too busy to stop. 

Changmin was fairly used to this, having lived in Seoul his entire life. Used to the hustle and bustle, used to the influx of holiday makers that this season always brought to the cities — Christmas shoppers lining the streets in search of the perfect gift.

However, this time round was different, this time round he got to take a step back. For once, he wasn’t _technically_ the one having to do all the rushing about.

It was nice, to take a breather, to take it slow for a while. He wasn’t in a hurry, he wasn’t trying to get somewhere. He was just going with the flow.

It helped, of course, that Yunho was there. His host and tour guide doing a brilliant job at taking any, and all, stress that usually came with navigating an unfamiliar city, and instead turning it into an actually enjoyable time. Changmin wasn’t very accustomed to that — enjoying Christmas shopping, enjoying being out in the middle of the winter crowds. And yet here he was, making his way from one shop to another, with a neatly wrapped box for Kyuhyun at the bottom of his shopping bag, and several other gifts already sorted out.

“Do you have any gifts in mind?” Yunho asked at one point, they were just taking a short break from shopping — giving Changmin a chance to speak to some of the people around them, and allowing the two of them to gather themselves before setting off once more.

“Yeah, I still like to get my family something, so I was thinking it would be nice to get a bottle of wine for each of them… Don’t suppose you know anywhere I can go to get something kinda fancy?”

Humming in acknowledgement, Yunho nodded: “Luckily for you, I do!” He agreed, hoisting his bag up once more, as they continued their walk down the street. “Yeah, my friend, she own’s a local company and they do wine tasting sessions regularly. She’ll need a couple of days to fit us in, but I can see if she can see us on Friday.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, you don’t have to go out of your way for me or anything.” Changmin dismissed, not wanting to cause Yunho anymore trouble then he already had. “I mean, I don’t need a tasting session or anything, so any wine would do really.”

“Changmin, it’s okay, she’ll be able to fit us in, she owes me a favour anyway. And besides, I could probably do with getting some myself… I mean, I think it could be fun!”

In an attempt to cover up the smile that was currently slipping onto his face, Changmin let out a loud sigh, “Well, if you insist—”

“—I do, I do insist!” Yunho nodded eagerly, excitement prominent in his voice.

“Okay,” He agreed, “I’ll go along to your wine tasting thing if I must… Thank you though, Yunho.” He added at the end, after a seconds pause — not wanting to come across as arrogant or unappreciative.

“You’re welcome — Oh, do you mind if we just go in here for a second? I think I remember seeing something that would be perfect for one of my friends.” And with that, he had changed the subject, slipping quickly into a shop and waving Changmin in behind him.

***

Throughout the rest of the morning, and into early afternoon, Changmin found himself getting to know Yunho more freely.

It turned out, the other man was two years older than him, had studied law in Seoul, had a younger sister, and was an uncle.

In turn, Changmin had shared a bit about himself. Telling Yunho all about his job, and a little about his own family and friends. He made sure to purposely leave any topic that might involve Hun well and truly out of the conversation, not wanting to bring up anything that might lead to too many questions.

Thankfully, Yunho never once asked about the call from the day before, and Changmin, not in the mood to talk about it, didn’t bring it up. There was a time and a place for that kind of conversation, and in the middle of a shopping trip with a man he’d know for less then a week, probably wasn’t it.

By the time three p.m. was drawing close, and Yunho was once again dropping him off at the apartment, Changmin had two bags full of gifts, and a note book of ramblings, interviews and insights that he had gathered over the days outing.

Yunho, being an obvious people person, seemed to know almost all the owners, and regular customers when it came to these independent shops, introducing Changmin to them, and in turn, making it easier for him to speak openly with them. He really did seem to make this ‘write about Christmas’ thing, a whole lot smoother… and for that, Changmin was extremely grateful.

“Sorry, I can’t stick around... but same time tomorrow yeah?” Yunho asked kindly, watching as Changmin climbed out of the car and went to wave him off.

“Only if you still want to,” Changmin shrugged, secretly hoping he’d say he did. “You’ve been so much help already, I wouldn’t expect you to continue wasting your time on me.”

“No time with you is a waste, Changmin.” Yunho disagreed, the sincerity in his voice taking Changmin by surprise, “Besides, I’m free most days this week. I mean, I’ve got to do a house switch over on Thursday, but that should only take a couple of hours at the most, so we might as well continue this, don’t you think?”

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t help but agree: “Yeah. Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Have a great evening, Changdol.”

With that, Yunho was driving away, and Changmin was letting out a quiet sigh and heading towards his apartment — pushing down the weird disappointment he had started to feel as his time with Yunho came to an end, and already finding himself looking forward to the next day.

Because in all honestly, Yunho was fun, and easy to be around and yeah, maybe it helped that he was stupidly attractive and a pleasant distraction from all things home related… But who was Changmin to deny himself the little things in life, from time to time? After all, it was Christmas.

***

Wednesday was spent taking in the lavish decorations adorning the cities main streets — Changmin snapping reference pictures and jotting down several things of particular interest.

They’d talked for hours that day, laughing about past Christmases, and holiday nightmares. Reminiscing over how things used to be when they were much younger, and just genuinely opening up to one another.

It was fun, it was enjoyable, and as the week went on, Changmin found himself wishing their time together could last for longer.

“So, have you lived in Gwangju all your life?” He asked. They were back in the small cafe, two large festive drinks between them, while Changmin looked over the notes he had taken so far, throughout that day.

Thursday morning had been a busy one, Yunho insisting on taking Changmin on a short hike in the outskirts of the city — even after the late start, and despite Changmin’s somewhat persistent complaints. A hike was _not_ something he wanted to be doing in this cold weather, especially not when it looked like it could snow any day now.

In the end, Yunho had been right, and the views of the city had been completely worth it (even if Changmin was utterly exhausted and slightly frozen from the strong winds on the walk up).

In fact, if Changmin was being completely honest with himself, the trip had become worth it the moment Yunho, realising just how cold Changmin was dressed in only his felt coat and without anything else to keep him warm, removed the thick scarf he was wearing form around his neck, and draped it over Changmin’s own.

It was endearing, having Yunho give up his own article of clothing for him, and as he stood there: bundled up in the layers of unfamiliar smelling material, Changmin couldn’t help but feel almost shy, as he thanked the other man.

Yunho, being Yunho, had just grinned stupidly back at him, stuffing his hands into his pockets and continuing onwards.

They had spent a total of five minutes at the summit of their hiking trail — Changmin snapping a couple of pictures and making note of how the city made him feel from so far above — before the wind got to cold, even for Yunho, and the two of them quickly retired to the warmth of the cafe.

It was only now, scarf still wrapped around his neck, and hot, sweet coffee warming his cold body, that Changmin continued the little makeshift interview he’d been conducting with Yunho, over the last few days.

“Yup, born and bred.” Yunho replied easily. “My whole family’s from here. Mom, dad, aunties uncles, grandparents. My sister moved away, but she still visits regularly.”

“So, you have a big family?”

“I don’t know about big, but we are close!” Yunho replied, “Gwangju’s just home sweet home, really. You know how it is, you grow up somewhere and all your memories are attached to that place.” He smiled softly, “Friends, family, birthdays, Christmas... first kiss.”

Changmin couldn’t help to nod along, the wistful tone in Yunho’s voice making him reminisce about his own teenage years: “Yeah I get it, school life, home life, first love,” he added without even thinking, turning slightly pink when Yunho let out a snort of laughter.

“Well, not in my case...”

“No?”

Yunho shook his head, “I mean, my first _date_ took place in this city sure… but I don’t think I really fell in love until I went to college in Seoul.”

“Ah, I see.” Changmin hummed, waiting for Yunho to continue.

“Yeah,” Yunho nodded, eyes seeming somewhat distant as he thought back to his time in university: “I met him in second year, but it took till we had graduated for either of us to pluck up enough courage to ask the other out.”

“Him?” Changmin asked — question slipping passed his lips before he could stop himself. The raised eyebrow Yunho sent in his direction made him regret his reply instantaneously.

“You weren’t under the impression that I was straight, were you?” Yunho asked, lips quirking slightly.

“What, I, no, well,” He rambled, waving his hands apologetically, “sorry, I can see how that may have sounded but, it’s not, I just didn’t want to assume and I, I’m bi, so it’s definitely not a problem, I was just...” he trailed off, feeling slightly awkward about the jumble of words and stringed together sentences, that poured unceremoniously from his lips. Brain to mouth filter obviously disengaged at this time. 

Thankfully, Yunho didn’t seem to mind. Letting out another laugh, and shaking his head slightly, “Well, I’ll be honest, I kind of guessed you weren’t straight… or at least were into guys in some way, but thank you, for telling me. And yeah I’m gay, glad we cleared that up.” He finished with another chuckle.

Desperate to pull the conversation back, Changmin spoke up once more, “So, your first love, is he still in the picture?”

Yunho shook his head, glimmer of something mischievous in his eye: “If you’re trying to ask if I’m single that’s a terrible way to go about it.”

“Damn, you see straight through me...” Changmin joked, matching the same tone that Yunho had used.

“But to answer your question,” the other man’s eyes darted away, just for a second, gaze wondering and eyebrows creasing ever so slightly, “No, he’s not around.”

“I’m sorry,” Changmin nodded, feeling sympathy of his own heartbreak well up inside him, “Its alway painful, to go through a break up, no matter what brought you to that point.”

“Yeah,” Yunho agreed, stirring his drink, before taking a long sip, “But life… happens, and we just have to move on, right?” He shrugged, downing the remainder of his coffee before putting on another bright smile and standing from his seat, “Anyway, are you just about ready to go? I thought we could check out one last place before our afternoon’s up, so what do you say?”

Changmin hadn’t been able to say no to that — eager do whatever the other man had planned for the two of them.

They had ended up looking around a museum — not necessarily the most christmasy of places but at least a good look at some of the local history. And of course, a tourist hot spot for him to write about.

By the time evening rolled around, and Yunho was dropping Changmin back to his apartment, a page full of notes wasn’t the only thing Changmin was leaving with. Chest strangely warm, as he went to exit the car.

“So same time tomorrow?” Yunho double checked, smiling his perfect smile, while he waited for Changmin to gather his things from the day, “wine tasting is at one, so we can always meet for an early lunch before heading over.”

“Yeah, that sounds great…” There was a pause, Changmin inwardly debating his next words: “Actually, I was just wondering, if you had time now, would you like to come in for a drink, or something… its just the evening still so young, and I don’t know it might be fun to get to know each other out of the whole tour guide/journalist setting, don’t you think?”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Yunho made a pained expression, looking at Changmin with apologetic eyes, “Sorry Changmin, as lovely as that sounds, I can’t — evenings are busy for me, and I really can’t be late… thanks for the offer though, maybe another time?”

“Oh, sure, of course… no don’t worry, I’m sorry, I don’t know why I didn’t consider that you might be busy.”

“Hey, it's alright, you wouldn’t have known!” Yunho assured, smiling just as brightly as usual, “Anyway, tomorrow?”

Changmin let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding, “Yeah,” He agreed, “see you tomorrow.”

It was only after he got back inside, that he remembered the warm scarf wrapped around his neck, didn’t belong to him. He’d just have to give it back the next day.

*** 

“So, how exactly are you able to just get us a wine tasting session so last minute, on the run up to Christmas anyway?” Changmin asked. The two of them were sat in a cafe, a selection of foods laid out in front of them — sharing an enjoyable lunch, before they were to head off to the winery that Yunho had booked the tasting at.

“Well, for starters, I’ve been best friends with the new owner for years.” He stated, in between mouthfuls, “And like I said, she owes me one… I helped out with something and she said — and I quote:” He cleared his throat, “Yunho, thank you _so_ much, if you ever need anything… like a spur of the moment wine tasting session, just let me know, I can sort something out.”

“ _Really now_?” Changmin wasn’t so convinced, it sounded _way too_ specific, to be true.

“Yes, really!” Yunho laughed at Changmin’s disbelief, “I mean, she is the CEO of the company, she can make these things happen.”

“Okay, okay. I believe you.” Changmin eventually gave in, suppressing a bright smile of his own as he watched Yunho’s face light up, “We should probably get going, don’t you think?”

They had left soon after that, finishing off their food and splitting the bill between them. Then, it was a short drive, before they were pulling up in the winery carpark, and exiting the vehicle.

“Yunho,” Changmin started, as his eyes fell on the familiar looking winery name and accompanying logo, “I thought you said this was a _local_ business?”

“Oh it is! Pretty impressive right? Yeah they expanded a few years ago now, opening wineries all over the country, but Red Vine started right here in Gwangju.” He puffed out his chest, once he had finished speaking, obviously proud of the popular brands heritage.

“Right, I hadn’t realised…” Changmin knew the brand Red Vine, knew it well. In fact, he’d done a wine tasting session in one of the Seoul outlets not that long ago, when him and Hun were newly engaged and excited to start planning, and preparing, for their big day.

Pushing down the sudden wave of upset that washed over him at the memory, Changmin forced out a smile — he’d managed to go a few days with hardly thinking about his ex at all, there was no way, he’d let that asshole ruin this day. Besides, this was his chance to make new memories, better memories.

It was only wine, after all. And Changmin would be lying to everyone and himself, if he said he didn’t like wine.

“Hi, we’re here for a wine tasting session with Miss Kwon.” Yunho introduced as they made their way towards the front desk, smiling kindly at the person behind it.

“Certainly Sirs, Miss Kwon will be right down.” The secretary stated, offering them both a seat on one of the fancy looking chairs, as they waited.

True to her word, it wasn’t long before a pair of heels could be heard walking down the hallway, and the Kwon Boa herself, entrepreneur and owner of Red Vine wine, came into view.

“Yunho!” She greeted, walking over to embrace him in a hug, and smiling brightly at the same time, “Its so good to see you, it’s been too long.”

“Boa, likewise!” Yunho agreed, grinning wide and turning to include Changmin in the conversation. “This is Shim Changmin, he’s writing an article about Christmas in Gwangju for the Seoul City, I thought it would be a good idea to take him here. That and the fact that we’re both in need to some extra Christmas gifts.”

“Changmin,” Boa stuck her hand out to greet him, “Its lovely to meet you, so you’re from Seoul right?”

Changmin nodded, “Thats right.”

“I must ask then, have you ever tried our wine before, or perhaps been to one of our outlets? Seoul is the first place we expanded to after all.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Boa. And, as a matter of fact, I have been before…” He admitted, not missing the way Yunho raised his eyebrows at the comment. It was no secret that Red Vine didn’t do casual tastings for just anyone on a regular bases. Yunho was probably wondering what special occasion had called for Changmin to have been to one in the past. “But that was a few years ago now,” He continued, so I’m still looking forward to trying some of your best wines, and seeing where it all started.”

“Excellent, that’s always good to hear! How about we start with a tour before moving on to the tasting?” 

“Lead the way,” Yunho nodded, and the group of three set off.

The winery was a large place. And thankfully, despite his earlier worries, Changmin found he was able to enjoy himself, as he learnt all about the growing, making and ageing process that the wine went through, before being released to the public.

Just from hearing her speak, it was obvious Boa loved her job. Spouting facts and information from way before she took over as CEO, and brought the Red Vine brand to the mainstream. She spoke proudly of its founders, and the old processes that were still in place to this day.

Changmin listened eagerly, taking notes and asking questions as they went.

Then, before he even knew it, the tour was over, and they were making their way into the tasting room.

Several bottles had already been prepared for tasting, and as Changmin glanced over the different products for them to try, his eyes seemed to stick on one bottle in particular.

A pinot noir.

The same type of pinot noir, that Hun and him, had selected and ordered for their own wedding, all those years ago.

The same pinot noir, that Changmin had had to call Red Vine to cancel, after they had broken up.

“Are you alright, Changmin?” Yunho gently coaxed from beside him, snapping him out of his daze and forcing him to look away from the wine.

He didn’t know quite how long he’d been staring, but from the looks on both Yunho and Boa’s faces, it had been too long.

“Yeah,” He managed, walking further into the room and taking one of the available seats, “Sorry, it’s just…” He took shook his head feeling rather stupid about his reaction, “I was going to have that wine at my wedding, before it got cancelled…” He decided to explain, unsure why he was even bringing this up, in front of two people he hardly knew.

Sitting beside him, Yunho’s body seemed to tense — eyes portraying nothing but sympathy.

A strange silence spread out between them, before Boa, quickly assessing the situation jumped in: “Well, that’s okay, I wasn’t gonna recommend that one anyway… So we can just put that away.” She grabbed the bottle, moving over to the wall display of wines and placing it back among the others.

“Sorry, ignore me… let’s continue.” Changmin decided, looking expectantly between the two of them.

“Changmin, we don’t have to…” Yunho stressed, voice irritably soft as he spoke.

“Well, sure,” Changmin agreed, “But that doesn’t take away from the fact that I still need to get something for my family, and if I’m gonna get them wine, might as well buy it from here, right?” He forced out a laugh, hoping to come across as light and breezy.

Light and breezy, of course, was the last thing he came across as.

“Okay,” Yunho still didn’t sound so sure, but (to Changmin’s relief), he decided not to push it, turning to Boa and instead asking were they should begin.

From then on, the wine tasting went on without a hitch, and half an hour later, both men were leaving with gifts for their friends and family, and a couple of bottles for themselves.

It was only when they arrived back at the apartment, that Yunho brought the subject up once more.

“Changmin?” He began, sounding slightly unsure, of himself, “About earlier… do you, do you want to talk about it?”

“You mean about my failed relationship?” Changmin snorted, trying to make light of the situation.

“Um, yeah… I mean, I’m here to listen.”

“Oh,” His statement caught Changmin off guard making him falter for a second, “I… normally people don’t ask, so I don’t tell.” He shrugged, knowing full well that that wasn’t an answer to the question Yunho had asked.

“Well, I’m asking… so if you want, we can always go in and you can tell me what happened.” He suggested with a shrug. “I have time, and I’m all ears.”

There was a pause as Changmin debated what to do. However, his mind seemed to have its own idea, the word:“Okay,” slipping out, before he even had a chance to register what he was saying.

Stepping out of the car, he lead the way into the apartment.

***

“So tell me,” Yunho smiled kindly from his position on the sofa, “what happened?” It had been five minuets since they’d settled into the warmth of the apartment — Changmin fussing around them, and making sure they both had a drink in their hand (coffee for Yunho, but wine in Changmin’s case) before joining him.

“I, don’t really know where to begin.” He admitted, trying to put off the inevitable for as long as he possibly could.

“I find the beginning is always a good place.” Yunho coaxed, leaning forward slightly to give Changmin his full attention.

And Changmin, unable to hold it all in anymore, spilt everything. He told him all about how him and Hun had met, how they got together, how they fell in love — the eventual downfall. How work became a rift in their relationship, Hun’s jealousy, finding out that he had been cheating and finally their messy break up.

“And on top of that. On top of all of that,” Changmin sighed, shaking his head before taking a large gulp of wine, “On top of the fact that he broke my heart, and ruined our relationship — he still wants to keep me close. Close enough to be a helping hand in his life, close enough to keep me hopeful — but at enough distance to make sure my presence doesn’t get in the way.”

“We still work together,” He began counting them off on his fingers, “still have some of the same friends, I still have to see him at social events, and when he gets married at the end of the month, he still wants _me_ to be there.” He jabbed angrily at his chest, “In fact, scratch that, he practically wants me to be one of his grooms men, even though he already has like… five or something… Just because I, quote: _know him better than anyone else_. Like, what bullshit is that? He’s acting like _I_ cheated on him, not the other way around!”

He sighed once more, not daring to look up and meet Yunho’s gaze — not wanting to see what those soft eyes might be showing right now.

“And because of that, its almost impossible to move on… impossible not to think about him, not to miss him — even though I know he’s the one to blame, and that he was terrible to me and used me and all of that… but at the end of the day, I do, I do miss him… and that makes me pathetic.” He ended his rant with venom in his voice — practically spitting the words of anger at himself. At the person he’d become over the last two years.

Then, there was silence.

Feeling a sudden wave of discomfort wash over him, Changmin glanced up, apology already on his tongue. When, instead of a bored expression or words of dismissal, he was met with a warm, tight embrace.

“Oh, Changmin.” Yunho breathed out, pulling him close to his cheat, as he rubbed a reassuring hand against his back, “You are not pathetic. The pain you’ve been through, the emotions you still feel — just because they are attached to that… that…” He seemed to struggle for the right word, “Asshole,” He eventually settled on, “doesn’t make you pathetic, please please please, never think that way about yourself.” He pleaded, pulling back to search Changmin’s eyes for any sign of acknowledgement.

It was only after Changmin, feeling a little dazed about everything, blinked a couple of times before giving a small nod, that Yunho relaxed a little. Giving his shoulders one last squeeze before pulling away.

The room once again fell into silence.

“Was he… the person on the phone the other day?” Yunho chanced, after a few seconds had passed.

“Was it that obvious?”

Yunho nodded, “Well, I don’t know, I kind of put two and two together when you mentioned the wine today.”

“Yeah,” Changmin sighed, “its the same guy… in fact, he’s kind of the reason I’m even here.” He admitted, allowing the faintest of smiles to creep onto his face.

“Huh?” Changmin couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the confusion in the other man’s voice voice.

“Its not what you think — I’m not doing this _for him_ , don’t worry.” He assured, inching himself forward and placing a hand against Yunho’s arm. “No,” He shook his head, “I’m here to _get away_ from him… I mean, I don’t even celebrate Christmas… but this article, its the perfect excuse — the best way to get me out of the city for long enough to forget about my ex and miss his wedding at the same time.” He explained, watching as another smile slipped onto Yunho’s face.

“That explains a lot,” Yunho laughed, shaking his head slightly, “I did wonder why someone with such a aversion to Christmas would agree to write an article on it…”

They were both laughing at this point, any discomfort from the prior conversation washing away before either needed to acknowledge it.

“And, for what it's worth, I, for one, am glad you took that job… I mean, we never would have met if you decided to be a good friend to that ass of an ex.” 

“Yeah, well… honesty, I’m glad I’m here too!” Changmin agreed, only making the two of them laugh harder.

It was at this point, that Changmin realised just how close they were sitting. A fact that was made more obvious by the way their shoulders were brushing — heads craned in together.

The laughter between them quickly died down — both men becoming hyper aware of the others every move.

There was a moment of stillness, in which the silence between them only grew. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence filled with tension and uneasiness, but more of a neutral understanding. An acknowledgement of each other. A desire to get closer.

Changmin felt his heart pick up pace, breath stuttering slightly as he watched Yunho’s eyes dart down to his lips — lingering for a second before flicking back up. A faint blush bloomed on his cheeks.

Just as Changmin was gonna give in to temptation, and allow the gentle flutter of butterfly wings to consume him completely, they were interrupted. Yunho’s phone blaring from inside his pocket.

“ _Shit_ ,” The two of them startled, pulling away from each other in an instance. Yunho cleared his throat as Changmin let out an awkward chuckle, watching as the other man took his phone from his pocket, “Shit!” He repeated, eyes gazing over the contact information and voice sounding more alarmed, “Oh, crap I, fuck I completely forgot — sorry,” He apologised hastily, standing and heading quickly toward the exit, “I’ve got to go, but Changmin, thanks, for talking to me and trusting me with your story… I, just, thank you.”

By this point he was already half in his coat, and slipping into his shoes.

Changmin was still sat on the sofa, eyes blinking and body tense with embarrassment. “Um, thank you for listening, I guess… and um, sorry about that… about distracting you from your evening plans.”

“Its not your fault!” Yunho assured, “I lost track of time, but I really do have to go.”

With one last blinding smile, he was opening the door and slipping out, answering the phone as he went.

The door closed with a click, and Changmin let out a sigh, deflating slightly on the spot.

Yunho’s scarf was still hanging by the door, and he once again kicked himself for forgetting to return it to him.

_Next time_ , he thought to himself, with a shake of his head. He'd try and remember next time.


	6. Weekend Disappointment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming up to the half way point now!! 
> 
> Thank you for reading so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy the future chapters~~

Changmin awoke on the Saturday morning, to disappointment.

It was around seven thirty a.m.: the usual time he’d been getting up, in order to be ready for Yunho’s nine a.m pick up. However, this time, instead of rising to a new day, and a strong sense of excitement to see Yunho again, he was greeted with a short text from the man in question.

_Changmin, Hi. Sorry, I forgot to mention this yesterday because of having to leave in a rush, but I won’t be free this weekend, so I’ll see you on Monday._

Glancing over the text, Changmin let out a sigh, before once again rolling over and burying himself in the comfortable duvet covers.

He didn’t stay like that for long, hunger making itself known and ripping him from the warmth of the bed, and out into the fresh air of the living room.

_This is a good thing_ , he quickly decided — Yunho had spent the last five days taking him out and about, so, Changmin needed this time to actually begin writing.

Besides, it would be good to get some time by himself as well. After all, that was exactly what he was here for. To be by himself. To get his work done. He’d obviously forgotten that, somewhere between the outings with Yunho and the warmth that would seep into his chest whenever he was around the other man.

To top it all off, Changmin needed to remember that he couldn’t get too comfortable here. This was a temporary situation, after all. Gwangju wasn’t his home, and Yunho wouldn’t always be around to help out.

With this thought rattling around his brain, he set himself off on his first task — eating. As it was, there was no point trying to work on an empty stomach.

“Right, where should I start?” Changmin mumbled to himself, placing his plate in the sink before heading back over to the table.

“No,” He shook his head, sighing slightly, “There is no way I’ll be able to write before I’ve showered — this is a professional piece, I need to set some standards for myself.”

With that decision made, Changmin got up once more — this time closing his laptop, and heading towards the bathroom.

After showering, dressing, clearing the dishes and tidying the apartment, Changmin once again sat down at the table and opened up a new document.

the time was nearing one p.m.

Staring at the blank page in front of him, Changmin felt a bubble of irritation rise in his system. He’d been here was twelve days now. Twelve whole days where he’d been distracting himself from the real task at hand, or wallowing in self pity. Twelve days, that he currently had nothing to show for.

Well, not _nothing_ … He did have his notebook, of course. His ramblings, and scribblings of thoughts and feelings and basic interviews that he’d been conducting over his time in the city so far (His notebook that, as he glanced over the many pages of writing, seemed to include a lot more ’Yunho’ than he remembered taking note of).

Sure, it was a start, but was it enough?

The curser blinked patronisingly at him from his laptop screen — the word count of zero tormenting him with every lack of idea that came out of his head.

Where should he even start?

He had just placed his fingers to the keyboard, eyebrows frowned in concentration and mind searching desperately for something to say, when his stomach gave a loud rumble.

“For fucks sake.” Changmin cursed, once again removing himself from the chair and walking away from the blank document.

Realising that he wasn’t going to get much done at this moment of time, he sighed loudly before heading for the door. He needed to think; he needed to get some fresh air.

The city was bitterly cold, sky overcast and wind icy. It was pretty bleak, and Changmin found himself wishing he were anywhere else but here.

He tugged at the scarf around his neck, bracing himself against the cold and willing his body to continue forward. It was Yunho’s scarf — the one he had lent him the other day. He wasn’t quite sure why he had grabbed it before leaving, mind in a muddle and desperate to get out for a couple of hours, he hadn’t thought twice before wrapping the thick wool around his neck and burying his nose in the layers of fabric.

His senses had been instantly met with the same smell from before — warm, sweet, a mixture of laundry detergent and something else, something uniquely Yunho. He tried to ignore the way his heart beat a little faster at this thought, resisting the urge to inhale the scent _too_ eagerly… that would be distasteful, even for him. 

Making his way through the streets of Gwangju by himself, was more challenging than he expected it to be. Not having realised just how much he relied on Yunho, when it came to getting from one location to another. But still he persevered, and soon enough, after walking in a few circles and getting lost down a back road or two, Changmin eventually found himself at the same coffee shop, they had frequented over the past week.

He let out a sigh of relief, smiling at his small achievement, and making his way into the warmth of the cafe.

It was fairly busy today — Christmas shoppers lining up in front of the counter, and taking up most of the seats.

There was an irritating Christmas song playing in the background and even more paper snowflakes adorning the specials board (as if that was even possible). But for once, Changmin found he didn’t mind. Sure it was busy, sure it was tacky. However, after visiting this place multiple times, he had grown somewhat fond of the little cafe and the atmosphere it created.

Maybe he should just write here? It was kind of perfect for inspiration after all. The Christmas spirit in full swing and plenty of coffee to keep him going throughout the day, yeah… he should have thought of this earlier.

Instead, he hadn’t even considered it, leaving his laptop and notebook at home for the afternoon.

Cursing himself once again for being so dense, Changmin let out a deep sigh before getting into the line anyway. He was here now, there was no point leaving empty handed.

In the end, he decided to indulge himself, going for the most christmasy drink on the menu — allowing himself to genuinely enjoy the sweet cinnamon, vanilla, and caramel filled concoction that came his way.

It was tooth rottenly sugary, but Changmin didn’t care, sighing contently into the drink and relaxing into the festive atmosphere. He even found himself quietly humming alone to one of the background songs, feeling slightly appalled with himself when he realised just what he had been doing.

By the time he got back to the apartment, the time was closer to six pm.

After finishing his drink, Changmin had once again left the familiar cafe in search of somewhere to eat — quickly stumbling across a street vender and once again treating himself to some local delicacies.

He had spent some time around that area, taking in some of the surrounding streets, and as always, waiting for inspiration to strike.

The inspiration however, never arrived, and after a couple hours spent getting steadily colder, he had called it a day and headed back.

With the evening drawing to a close, Changmin felt a slight desperation wash over him — the day was almost up, and he still had nothing to show for it.

Laptop sitting unoccupied, and document still empty.

Deciding that he had to do _something_ before the night was upon him, he grabbed some leftovers form the fridge and blitzed them in the microwave before getting on with the task at hand: writing.

_Gwangju, an unexpected city—_

“No,” He shook his head, deleting the words he had just written and starting again.

_When you first arrive in the city of Gwangju—_

Again the words were deleted.

_Gwangju was not somewhere I had ever panned to visit—_

“ _Definitely_ not,”

He sighed once more — something he had been doing increasingly often over the day, and rested his head in his hands. Why. Was. This. So. Damn. Hard?

He had followed his plan, he had taken notes, he had spent time in the city, he’d even had his own personal tour guide, for fucks sake. Yet here he was, struggling with the simple task of writing a basic ass article, just because the theme was Christmas.

He could just make something up. No, he _should_ just make something up. After all, it was very unlikely that his loyal readers would care that much about visiting the city of Gwangju in the middle of December.

And yet, something stopped him — the overwhelming sense that he’d be letting Yunho down if he didn’t at least try.

As it was, they had just spent the last five days trekking around the city for the sake of the article. It would be a terrible waste of time and effort, if he just disregarded everything he’d gathered, over his time so far.

With this realisation, Changmin decided to once again, place his laptop away, and this take himself off to bed for the night. There was no point staying up late just to delete everything the next day. Might as well start fresh after a good nights rest.

***

Sunday arrived with a chill in the air. The whole apartment was cold, and the sky was a threatening shade of grey. A sense foreboding falling over the city.

Deciding to completely ignore the outside world, Changmin switched his phone off, before sitting down beside his laptop and beginning to type.

It was a slow process. The words came out wrong, the sentences rambling and uncomfortable, but still Changmin pushed forward. Because after all, if he could just start by getting something, _anything_ down onto this empty document, then that would be better than nothing at all.

However, all he currently had at this point in time, was one weak opening and two short paragraphs.

It was fairly safe to say: writers block had hit him hard.

Not wanting to give up now he’d started, Changmin had distanced himself from all, and any, form of distraction. In an attempt to force the writing out of him. Closing himself off from the outside world and hunkering down in his temporary writing space.

Hours seemed to move weirdly that day. Sometimes disappearing in a flash, sometimes dragging on for what felt like days — it was disorientating and annoying, but still Changmin made the most of a difficult situation. And, by the time the afternoon had drifted into evening, and the sun had dipped bellow the horizon, he had at least been able to draft the majority of the article from start to finish.

Letting out a sigh, Changmin finally allowed himself to feel content with the amount of writing he had been able to complete, and pleased with the progress he had made so far.

That was the hard part — setting out what he wanted to say, what the article should even be about. Now all he had to do was flesh it out _a lot,_ and make it enjoyable to read.

That, of course, was easier said than done. But still, it was something and right now _something,_ was all he needed.

Nodding proudly at his laptop once more, Changmin put his work away for the day.

He had just decided that treating himself to a home cooked meal and a glass of wine would be the best way to celebrate his success, when there was an unexpected knock at his door.

Looking up from where he was positioned, he frowned slightly.

He wasn’t expecting anyone at this time, and other than Kyuhyun and his boss, Yunho was the only other person who knew his address.

With a strange glimmer of hope and excitement blooming in his chest, Changmin dropped what he was doing and made his way quickly over to the door.

He checked his appearance in a passing reflection, deciding that he looked presentable enough and not too much like he’d been stuck staring at his laptop screen for hours on end, before pulling the door wide open.

“Yun—” The greeting he’d planned died in his mouth as soon as the person behind the door was revealed to him. Because, instead of Yunho, instead of the man he’d thinking about over the last few days, the person he was hoping to see right now — he came face to face with Hun.

His ex smirked, folding his arms as Changmin came into view.

Changmin felt his face fall, excitement quickly being replaced with disappointment, followed shortly by distress.

“Changmin!” Hun greeted, practically pushing his way into the apartment, and into Changmin’s personal space, “Why with the long face, aren’t you happy to see me?” He chided, resting a hand on Changmin’s arm before slipping out of his coat and shoes and making himself comfortable.

“Hun.” Changmin spoke in return, voice sounding a lot less enthusiastic than the other man’s, “What are you doing here?” He asked, irritation very clear in his delivery.

“Nice to see you, too.” Hun just laughed, “Come on Chwang, what happened to your hospitality, I’m your guest right now, you could at least offer me a drink?”

Sighing Changmin shook his head, suppressing the irritation, and giving in for the time being: “Fine, would you like a drink?” He asked politely.

“I’d love one!” Hun agreed, tilting his head in the direction of the Red Vine bottle, that Changmin had been about to crack open, “How about some of that? I see you’ve still got good taste.” 

Changmin only nodded, quietly making his way over to were he’d left the bottle of wine, and pouring out two glasses.

“Would you like to sit down?” He offered, playing as the perfect host and indicating to the sofa that was currently unoccupied.

“Why, yes Changmin, I think I would.”

The two of them sat down, the air thick with tension and the space between them stretching out for miles.

“So why are you here, Hun?” Changmin tried once more, hoping to get a straight answer out of him for once.

However, instead of doing what Changmin wanted, Hun shot back his own question: “Sorry, were you expecting someone? I’m not interrupting evening plans, am I?”

“No.” Changmin half lied. Of course, he wasn’t _really_ expecting Yunho to turn up on a Sunday evening — especially not after he said he’d be busy over the weekend, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t secretly hoping for that.

“Are you sure? Its just you seemed pretty eager to open the door, and well, by the way you’re dressed so nicely, and the bottle of wine that was just _waiting_ to be opened, I assumed you were expecting someone to arrive…”

“No, I can assure you no one is coming.” Changmin sighed, “besides, I’m not dressed to impress, and this wine is just to celebrate the writing progress I made today.” He didn’t know why he was explaining himself to the other man. Hun had no right to know any of this.

And on top of that, _so what_ if Changmin had been expecting someone? it’s not like they were still together. Hadn’t been for two, whole, years now.

“Good,” Hun nodded, slipping slightly closer to Changmin’s side, “Because I really need to talk to you, and I’d hate to be interrupted…”

“Okay,” Changmin sighed once again, preparing himself for whatever was to come, “what do you want to talk about then?”

There was a pause, Hun considering the words that were about to leave his mouth, before speaking: “I guess,” He began, looking at Changmin with a strange glint in his eye, “I guess you could say I’m having second thoughts…”

“Second thoughts?”

“Yeah, second thoughts, about getting married…”

Changmin couldn’t believe the words he was hearing, eyes blinking rapidly and ears beginning to ring, “You, can’t be serious?” He spluttered.

“I’m afraid I am… I know, I know its bad — as if I _had_ to have these thoughts so close to the wedding it's just… I can’t help but wonder if I’ve made a mistake.” 

“What kind of mistake?” Changmin gritted out, already dreading the words that were bound to come out of Hun’s mouth.

“Changmin,” Hun started, shaking his head like it was the most obvious question in the world: “You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I didn’t even realise it.” Changmin hated the way his breath automatically hitched in his chest, body responding against his will.

_This_ had been what he always wanted, what he always _dreamed_ of. He had spent so long wishing, hoping, _pleading_ to have Hun come back to him — he had waited two, long, years, watched with a broken heart as the person he loved continued to slip away from him.

And now here he was. Asking for a second Chance asking for forgiveness. And Changmin, Changmin didn’t know what to say — how to respond.

Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Hun continued, “I made a terrible mistake, and I was foolish and, Changmin… I’d love to have you back in my life — if you’d allow me, of course?”

“Hun… I…” It all felt like too much, Changmin’s mind spinning with all the new information.

His past self would be kicking him right now, desperate to jump at any opportunity to get back together with Hun — no matter how too-good-to-be-true, the whole situation seemed to be.

But this Changmin, wasn’t past Changmin. And this Changmin had just spent the last week thinking of no one but Yunho.

Kind, sweet, funny, attractive Yunho — who whisked him off his feet and made him feel safe and comfortable, in a city he’d never been to before.

Yunho who made him laugh, made him happy.

Yunho who seemed to genuinely care about him, no matter how short a time they had currently known each other.

The very same Yunho, who he had almost kissed, no less than forty-eight hours ago. That had to mean something? Did Changmin really want to put an end to it, before it could properly begin? Did Changmin really want to run back to the person that had broken his heart over, and over again?

Across from him, Hun didn’t seem to notice his reluctance, edging himself into Changmin’s personal space, with hooded eyes and and a sultry stare.

As he watched this, a sudden realisation washed over him: he couldn’t do this. Not again. He couldn’t put himself through the pain. And on top of that, he no longer wanted to.

“No,” Changmin shook his head, placing a hand against his ex’s chest and firmly stopping him form moving forward.

“I’m sorry, what?” Hun seemed genuinely taken aback by the words that had left his mouth, obviously thinking he had sussed Changmin out and knew exactly how he was going to react — how quick he’d jump to take him back. “Changmin, I thought you’d be excited? I thought this is what you wanted?” He exclaimed, obviously finding this turn of events, very unexpected.

“I said, no.” Changmin clarified, standing up and putting some space between them. “I’m sorry Hun, but I don’t actually care that you’re having second thoughts.” He admitted, heart thumping loudly with every word, “I don’t care if she’s not who you thought she was, or if she’s not as much as a pushover as me, or if she’s not as good in bed as me, or, or, or whatever messed up reason you’ve decided to call off the wedding — I just don’t care!”

Instead of getting angry, instead of shouting of lashing out, as Changmin had expected, Hun just laughed: “Changmin, don’t be ridiculous. I think you’ve got the wrong idea — I haven’t called _off_ the wedding… this isn’t really about that… Its just, she’s not like you, not as good as you in _so_ many ways.” His compliments made a nauseating bile rise in Changmin’s throat. He didn’t want to be hearing this right now.

“I don’t like you blocking me out,” Hun admitted, “and, during this time apart, I realised that we can still have something, we can still be together.” He explained, attempting to persuade Changmin into giving in. “And anyway,” He added, almost as a second thought, “She never has to know a thing… I mean, I am pretty good at being discreet after all…”

A flare of anger rose within Changmin, jaw tightening at the reference to the last time Hun had cheated on someone. The time Hun had cheated on him.

“So you're using me?” He just about managed, voice flat and unfeeling.

“God, you always have to put such a negative spin on things,” Hun rolled his eyes, “no, I see it more as you doing me a favour…” He shook his head, letting out a disappointed sigh, “Look, Changmin, I need you there for me — can you at least do that? Can I rely on you to help me?”

The bubble of outrage that had been slowly rising in Changmin’s chest chose that as its moment to burst: “No. You can’t.” He shook his head, “I’m not here for you to walk all over. You had me, Hun. You had _me_. And you broke my heart, and you broke my trust and you moved on. So now, it’s my turn.” He was breathing heavily, words spilling over without his control. Every little repressed thought, all the pain — everything he had felt about his ex since their break up pouring out like an unstoppable torrent of water.

“I will not take you back.” He stated, “I will not cheat with you, so you can win some fucked up spite fuelled gamed, you seem to be playing with your future wife. And I will not come to your wedding. In fact, other than if we have to at work, I never want to speak to you again!”

Hun seemed genuinely alarmed by this outburst, stupid smirk falling off his face, and being replaced with irritation of his own: “Changmin, you obviously don’t know what you’re saying — don’t be stupid.”

“Actually, I think you’ll find, I know exactly what I’m saying, thank you very much.” He snapped, narrowing his eyes, “I don’t need you or your toxicity in my life anymore. So, would you be so kind to get the fuck out of my apartment, and leave me alone?” He finished, question coming out as more of a command.

Hun was completely astounded, mouth agape — mind falling blank.

Noting that he was no longer welcome, he followed Changmin to the door mumbling a crude, “You’re a fucking asshole, Changmin, I hope you know that.” As he left.

Changmin just laughed, shaking his head at the pathetic insult: “If I’m an asshole, then I hate to think what that makes you.” He replied, before he was closing the door on Hun, for good.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Changmin deflated — all the fight and pent-up anger leaving his body and rendering him exhausted. He didn’t know quite what he expected to feel, after ridding himself of Hun: excitement perhaps, happiness, freedom? But, as Changmin leant against the door with a heavy sigh, all he served to feel was tired…

Was that it? Was that what he wanted?

The annoying sense of longing that always appeared around his ex was still present, and it was this that he couldn’t help but focus on now.

During the fight, he’d come to the conclusion that he wasn’t in fact ‘in love’ with Hun. Not anymore at least — not for a while now. But that didn’t mean this realisation was particularly reassuring. After all, he had just spent the last two years of his life wishing for their time back — it was odd now, to know he no longer wanted that.

Not bad of course, no, Changmin was pleased to have finally closed the door on that Chapter of his life… but still, it was strange and would probably take a couple of days to get used to.

Realising that there was no point dwelling on this right now, Changmin did the next best thing, and decided to get himself drunk… after the evening he’d had, he felt he deserved it.


	7. New Day

Changmin awoke with a start. Eyes flying open and body coming back to consciousness.

The first thing he registered was the bright morning light pouring through his open curtains, and instantly attacking his swollen eyes. The second: the drilling headache that seemed to be attempting to split his skull in half.

And then finally, underneath the pain, underneath the hangover, underneath everything else — the unyielding banging of a fist against the front door — noise only worsening his mood, and making him want to do nothing more than roll over and bock out all causes of discomfort.

Deciding that was the best plan of action, Changmin let out a loud groan and buried his face into one of the many pillows that were scattered around him.

Unfortunately, this plan didn’t quite work. The persistent drumming only becoming louder and more desperate, the longer he left it.

“Fuck,” He grumbled, forcing his body to sit up, and ignoring the way his head span as he did so. He felt like shit, probably looked ten times worse, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was answering the door and facing whoever was on the other side.

Drinking a lot, had seemed like a great plan last night.

After seeing his ex, and hopefully putting a stop to all the pain and upset that he had caused since their break up, Changmin hadn’t been sure of how else to deal with it.

However looking back, turning to his ever growing wine collection probably wasn’t the healthiest of ideas… And now, with the pain in his head, and the churning in his stomach, he was well and truly regretting his past choices. Not that there was much he could do about that now. “Never again,” He swore to himself, knowing full well that that was a lie, before rubbing a hand over his face and staggering out of the bedroom.

He was still dressed in the clothes from the night before — something he noticed as he once again caught sight of his reflection, while heading towards the front door.

He really did look rough: hair sticking up, skin sickly and pale, clothes rumpled and eyes bloodshot.

That was definitely not how he wanted people to see him.

However, he couldn’t dwell on this now. His want to look presentable and put together in front of the outside world, being completely over shadowed by the need to stop the loud and overbearing banging, that was still coming from the other side of the door.

“Hello?” He croaked, pulling the door ajar, and peeking out to see who it was.

He didn’t get much time to take in his visiter before the door was being pushed fully open, and he once again found himself in the warm embrace of Yunho.

“Changmin, thank god.” He gasped, pulling Changmin impossibly closer and walking them back into the safety of the apartment. “I was so worried,” He continued, before pulling back slightly to get a better look at the other man, “Are you alright?”

It was warm in Yunho’s arms. Warm, and comforting and familiar — the soft scent that clung to the scarf ever-present in the rest of Yunho’s clothing as well. Changmin felt himself leaning into the touch, breathing in the sweet smell before reluctantly pulling away.

“What dose it look like?” He asked, rubbing his hand over his tired face once more, before scrunching his forehead, at what Yunho had said: “Wait,” he asked, looking the other man with confusion, “why were you worried?”

“Why was I worried? Changmin, I woke up to a confusing voicemail from late last night, where you were clearly drunk and spewing all sorts of stuff about your ex and your feelings… and, and me…” There was a pause, Yunho’s voice becoming impossibly soft towards the end of his sentence, “How couldn’t I be worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Changmin apologised, pulling himself out of the comforting hold of Yunho and sinking into the sofa instead, “Shit, I’m sorry Yunho. That was stupid of me, I shouldn’t have called you, I’m sorry.” He said once more for good measures, ready for Yunho to reject his words or walk away in a huff of anger.

In all honesty, he wasn’t sure how Yunho would react, to his half assed explanation. However, having him carefully make his way over, until he was crouched mere inches away, and run a comforting hand, down his arm, was definitely the last thing he expected.

“Changmin,” He shook his head, Changmin held his breath: “Please, stop apologising for things you don’t need to be sorry for.” He pleaded, moving his other hand until he was cupping both of Changmin’s together.

“You never have to apologise, for calling me. No matter if you’re drunk, or it's late at night, or if you’re in a bad place — or if you just want a chat. I don’t mind, in fact, I feel honoured that you’d even turn to me in a time of need. I’m just sorry that I couldn’t be there for you, when you needed me.”

There was another pause, Changmin looking down at where their hands were joined in his lap — the gentle caress of Yunho’s thumb running over his knuckles comforting him immensely. He resisted the urge to apologise again, knowing it wasn’t what the other wanted to hear from him.

Instead, he just stayed quiet — eyes still half closed and brain still somewhat fuzzy from the night before.

“What time is it?” He eventually asked, question taking Yunho slightly by surprise.

“Nine thirty a.m.” He clarified.

“Okay.” Changmin nodded, unsure of what else there was to say.

Once again silence enveloped the room.

Yunho seemed to hesitate for a second, eyes roaming over Changmin’s face before he opened his mouth to speak: “Can you tell me what happened last night?” He asked, not wanting to push Changmin for answers but obviously curious to what got him into this state.

“Can I have a shower first? And maybe breakfast?” Changmin asked in return, definitely _not_ putting off talking about his ex for a little while longer.

“Of course.” Yunho nodded, taking a step back from the younger and allowing him enough room to get himself up and away from the main living area. 

Taking a deep breath, Changmin stood up, letting out a long yawn and moving himself over to his bedroom. “I’ll be about ten minutes or so,” He mumbled, standing by his door way and turning to look once more in Yunho’s direction.

“Take your time,” Is all Yunho said back, face calm and eyes still kind as he watched Changmin leave.

***

In the end, a shower, and a fresh pair of clothing, were all Changmin really needed to feel more like himself again. Sure, he was still relatively hungover, but at least he was clean and alert. The hot water washing away the clouds from his brain, and making him think clearly once again.

Exiting the room, he was greeted to the sound of the radio, and the smell of something burning.

Yunho was stood by the stove, preparing several dishes for what looked to be breakfast. “You made food?” He asked intelligently, walking into the kitchen to investigate further.

Startling slightly, Yunho turned to face Changmin — smile as wide and as perfect as ever. “I did.” He agreed, “Or, at least I tried… I’ve been told many times that my cooking is terrible, but I wanted to make sure you had something to eat.” He went on to explain, grabbing three of the dishes and tilting his head in the direction of the final two: “Would you mind carrying them out?”

“Oh, sure.” Changmin nodded, glad to be of some use to Yunho after he had been so helpful not just this morning, but over the whole time they had known each other.

They ate quietly, background radio creating a cheerful soundtrack to their breakfast, while they enjoyed the food that Yunho had prepared.

In all honesty, it wasn’t that bad. Sure the rice was a little dry, and it had definitely been the meat that he’d smelt burning — but the flavour was mostly there, and Changmin (still not feeling one hundred percent back to normal), was thankful for anything at this moment in time.

Yunho waited until all the food had been finished, and the dishes washed and placed away, before speaking once again. “How about we have a relaxed day today. We could just stay here, and maybe you could go over some of your writing or we could watch some TV or listen to some music?” He suggested, turning to look in Changmin’s direction with an open, neutral expression — placing the ball into his court — letting him decide.

Changmin nodded, releasing a sigh of relief when the conversation about last night wasn’t raised, and the pressure of heading out for the day disappeared. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He nodded, small smile forming on his face. “You know? I don’t think I remember the last time I properly binged watched a program… Don’t suppose you have any recommendations?”

“You better believe I do!” Yunho stated, words pulling a laugh out of Changmin as the two of them made there way into the living area and onto the sofa.

The program Yunho picked out wasn’t actually half bad. Sure, in a normal situation Changmin would never have chosen it for himself — too predictable and cliché for him to usually enjoy. But, as one episode turned into two, and two to six, he found himself becoming more, and more enwrapped in the story and the different characters, until he was well and truly hooked. It was good, its was exciting. There was drama, and tension, but also moments that had Changmin laughing loud and hard.

They took a short break from watching at lunch— ordering in takeout as neither one of them could be bothered to cook, before continuing with the last two episodes.

As the day went on, Changmin couldn’t help but notice just how comfortable he was in the presence of Yunho. For the first time, in a long time, he felt as if he could be himself. Away from the stresses of work, of home. Away from the expectation that he had set himself.

This wasn’t the first time he had felt this way since arriving in the city, Yunho having the same effect on him during all their time together.

But it was only now, sat close, warmth in his chest spreading out to fill the rest of his body, that Changmin realised just how much he liked Yunho. Liked being with him, getting to know him, having him close.

It was during the last episode this really became obvious to him. A particularly dramatic scene had just ended, and the main character was about to confess to his love interest. Changmin, having previously been completely lost in the program, became momentarily distracted by a movement to his side.

Yunho was mouthing along to the words of the actor — confessions of love spilling over his own lips, at the same time as the main protagonist.

A wave of something indistinguishable washed over Changmin’s entire body. Hot and intense, making his breath stutter and his face redden. Unsure of how to cope with the sudden pang of emotion, he shot out of his seat, the sudden movement alerting Yunho and making him turn a worried eye on him. “Is everything okay?” He asked, sounding generally concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine — I just need a drink of water that’s all.” Changmin rushed out his reply, forcing a somewhat tightlipped smile, before exiting the room with haste.

He didn’t slow down, not until he was out of sight from Yunho, stopping by the sink and letting out a long breath.

This was new, this feeling, this intensity. He hadn’t let himself acknowledge the possible feelings he’d been harbouring for Yunho. Too scared to admit it too himself, too wrapped up wallowing in self-pity over Hun, to look very far into it. Besides, it had all happened so quickly. Meeting him, the instant attraction, getting to know him so easily.

But right now, it was clear. He liked Yunho, he liked spending time with the other man — liked seeing him everyday. And with Hun well and truly out of his life, out of his head, he was free to admit it.

Tying not to draw attention to himself, Changmin decided to be true to his word, and grabbed himself a glass of water before returning with a calmer expression.

His attempts to stay composed didn’t last for long, when, upon noticing his arrival, Yunho fixed him with a blinding smile, “You’re back.” He stated, inching himself slightly towards Changmin.

“I’m back.” Changmin repeated, heat racing while they sat close enough for their legs to be touching. Space between them slowly, but surely, disappearing.

The show concluded not long after that, it was a little predictable, but for once Changmin allowed himself to look passed that, genuinely enjoying the conclusion of the story.

“What did you think?” Yunho asked, turning to Changmin with the same easy smile and a glimmer of excitement in his eye, as he always had when showing Changmin something he loved.

“You know what? I actually really enjoyed it.” Changmin admitted, attempting to suppress the smile that had formed on his face, as Yunho clapped his hands together.

“Even with all the clichés? I’m surprised.”

“Yes, even with all the clichés.” Changmin nodded, laughing a little when he caught sight of Yunho’s, unconvinced expression: “Hey don’t look at me like that, I never said anything about not enjoying a good cliché or predictable plot line from time to time.” He rolled his eyes, pushing gently at Yunho’s side.

“No, but you definitely implied it, Mr ‘I don’t like Christmas because it feeds into the capitalistic agenda’.”

“Okay, that might be true…” He agreed, sighing before finally bringing up the elephant in the room: “Well that, and of course more recently because of Hun."

Beside him, Yunho stilled. “About that,” Changmin could already tell what was coming, “are you ready to talk about it now?”

Letting out a deep sigh, he nodded. There was no point putting off the inevitable — he was bound to tell Yunho sooner or later, so why not now? After all, he’d already put it off for a good few hours by this point. “Okay.” He confirmed, sounding a lot less reluctant than he was expecting, “I think, the best place to start is by listening to the voicemail.” He decided, turning to Yunho expectantly.

“Oh, sure — of course.” Yunho agreed, quickly pulling out his phone and flashing up his voicemail.

He handed the device over to Changmin, allowing him to hit the speaker phone option, before waiting for the messages to begin. There was a short pause before his voice began to play out: “Yunho,” He slurred, far too loud for how close he was talking into the receiver, “Hun’s an asshole.” There was a sound of bitter laughter, “Although, I’m sure you already know that… Fuck.” He cursed, voice braking slightly towards the end.

“I’m fucking wine drunk, and he’s a shitty, shitty person, and” He sighed, “I think he wanted to sleep with me, you know?” This was followed by a long pause, drunk Changmin obviously still reeling from the incident: “ _Shit_ , I don’t know why I’m telling you this? But, I said no. I said nope… told him to fuck off… so thanks, because, because I couldn’t stop thinking of you and your stupid face… so I said no… and I would have said yes, because I’m a fucking desperate idiot, and someone like me doesn't get someone like you — they get shitty Hun’s not perfect Yun—”

Changmin hung up. He’d heard enough, heart beating way too fast, hands shaking slightly.

“Right.” He eventually spoke, unable to disguise the tremble in his voice. It was hard, hearing himself like that. And to make it worse, he had inflicted it on Yunho — made him worry, made him rush here in the morning, and bang on the door until he let him in. 

“I’m not angry.” Yunho jumped in, as if he could hear the thoughts racing around Changmin’s mind, “I’m not, Changmin — this isn’t something you need to feel bad about… And I’m not, I’m not perfect.” His eyes darted away, the tiredness once again revealing itself in a glimmer, “but,” He added, “I am here, to listen, if you want to tell me what happened.”

Once again Changmin nodded, taking a steadying breath “I know you’re not perfect, no one is — perfection isn’t a pressure I meant to put on you,” He started, finally looking up to meet Yunho’s eyes when his words pulled a quiet chuckle out of the other man — what he found gazing back, was an impossible warmth, the sincerity in his gaze making it hard to think straight.

“Hun came over last night.” He explained, watching as Yunho stayed quiet in front of him — giving him room to think, room to breath. “I don’t know how he found this address — well, work I guess… but anyway he came here, and told me that he’d been having second thoughts, about the wedding… about me.”

As soon as he started speaking, the words just wouldn’t stop. Changmin launching into the story, telling Yunho all about Hun’s misleading request, his speech about needing Changmin, and wanting to have him back. The admission that he was still going to get married, and Changmin’s decision to reject him.

“I realised, that I no longer loved him. Not really, not in the way I used to… I think, I think I loved the idea of him, wanted to go back to the way things had been, when we were young twenty somethings, without a care in the world. But in that moment, I realised, that was never going to happen. Even if we had gotten back together, when we had first broken up, things never really would have gone back to the way they were.”

It felt good, to finally admit this. Like a weight that he’d been holding onto for so long, was no longer there — a fake thread of hope that he’d been clinging onto for dear life, was no longer needed.

“Do I miss the old him? Yes,” He sighed, wishing that it wasn’t true, “Do I wish he had never cheated on me in the first place? Of course. But, it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been holding onto these stupid desires for too long. And now, it’s well and truly time to let them go.” He concluded, voice shaking with an unnameable emotion.

There was a moments pause, both men allowing the words to settle like a fine layer of dust in the air. The whole room halting for just a second.

It was Yunho, who eventually broke the stillness, reaching out and holding onto Changmin’s hand with a firm grip — reassuring him, bringing him back down to the present.

“I’m so proud of you, Changmin.” He stated, smile soft and kind, eyes large and sympathetic. “You broke free from a toxic relationship. You did what was right for you, and you deserve to feel great about it.”

Unfortunately, and despite Yunho’s best efforts, his words did little to raise Changmin’s spirits. And instead, he felt his eyes begin to well up, tears that he had been repressing for so long threatening to spill. “I’m sorry.” Changmin chocked out, scrunching his eyes shut in irritation.

“No, no, hey. Shh, come here, it’s alright, you did the right thing!” Yunho tried to comfort him, pulling him forward into his embrace and rubbing calming circles into his back.

“Did, I?” Changmin wasn’t so sure, sniffling loudly as the first of his tears slipped down his cheek, “Because it looks to me, as if I made an absolute ass out of myself… you must think I’m pathetic.”

“No, you didn’t make an ass out of yourself, and you’re not pathetic. I promise you, you did the right thing.” He gave him one last squeeze, pulling back slightly and gently cupping Changmin’s face with his hands — thumbs working to wipe away the newly formed tear tracks.

“That dick doesn’t deserve a moment of your time.” He continued, moving his hands in order to run them gently down Changmin’s arms, “He can’t come running, expecting you to do as he pleases, and just get away with it.”

“You deserve so much more.” He shook his head, eyes brimming with unspoken emotion, “You deserve someone that will treat you equally,” Yunho lent forward, placing a feather soft kiss against his cheek “and love you boundlessly.” He moved to do the same on the other side, “Someone that will give you the respect you deserve, and be there for you, and, and—”

His rambling was cut off, when Changmin, heart beating wildly from Yunho’s actions finally, let himself move forward— interrupting his word with a soft press of lips to lips. No longer able to hold back from the one thing he had been wanting to do for some time now.

And Yunho, it seemed, wasn’t at all apposed to this new development. Surging forward to meet Changmin in the middle, lips crashing together with force and hands moving to pull each other impossibly closer.

It was too much, and not enough — Changmin working his way into Yunho’s space — pushing him back into the soft sofa cushions, crowding him and asking for more. Bellow him, Yunho didn’t complain, groaning as Changmin depend the kiss. Granting access to whatever he wanted. Whatever he needed. Their lips, moved together, bodies falling into sink and desperate hands pulling at clothing.

It was hot, and intense and almost too overwhelming for Changmin. Body moving too fast for his mind to keep up. He had one hand laced in Yunho’s hair, the other tugging at the hem of his jumper — willing it up and out of his way. Yunho’s, own hands were holding securely onto his waist, pulling them chest to chest.

Heat seemed to spread out between them, the once almost ignorable glimmer of attraction, now spiralling into full-blown lust.

And then, before they even knew what was happening, their movement was halted — the need to breath taking over and forcing them apart.

“Well,” Changmin panted, running a hand through his hair, while he gazed down at Yunho’s now disheveled appearance.

“Well,” Yunho repeated, sounding just as dazed as he looked.

“Was that a really stupid thing to do?” Changmin asked, unable to stop the bubble of giddy laughter escaping his mouth.

“No,” Yunho shook his head, “I mean, correct me if it’s just me… but I’ve kinda been wanting to do that, for a while now.”

“It’s not just you.” Changmin confirmed, threading his fingers back into Yunho’s hair and leaning down for more, just to prove it.

“Thank god for that,” Yunho practically moaned, eyes rolling as Changmin moved to press kisses again his jaw and neck.

However, much to Changmin’s complaints, before things could move any further, Yunho once again put a stop to their actions.

“Changmin?” He breathed, waiting for the other man, to give a hum of acknowledgement before continuing, “Before we go on, can I at least take you on a date first?

“A date?” Changmin couldn’t help but question dumbly, mind slightly preoccupied to really take in what Yunho had said.

“Yeah, a date.” Yunho nodded eagerly, moving so that there was a little more room between them, “As in a romantic outing, where we do something together, and spend time with each other and talk about stupid things.” He explained, hands still resting on Changmin’s thighs, which were currently straddling his lap. 

“So… like what we were doing last week?”

Yunho let out a loud laugh at that, eyes scrunching and head leaning back, “I guess,” He agreed, “But this time we can actually refer to it as a date, and hold hands maybe? Or kiss, if we’re feeling _really_ out there.”

That thought alone brought a smile to Changmin’s lips — the same warmth from whenever he was with Yunho growing once more. “Yeah, okay.” He agreed without hesitation, “I’d like that, going on a date with you? Could be fun.” He concluded, watching with a light heart as this comment once again pulled a beautiful smile out of Yunho.

It was with a slight reluctance, that he slipped off Yunho lap, sitting himself back down beside him and letting out a quiet laugh. Yunho mirrored the sound, linking their hands between them, and putting a giddy feeling into Changmin’s chest.

By this point, it was nearing three p.m., and as always, Yunho would be having to leave.

As if realising this for himself, the other man stood up, smiling down at Changmin before beginning to head over to the door.

“Do you have to leave?” Changmin asked, reluctant to let him go so soon.

“I do,” Yunho nodded, “I really do.”

“Okay,” Changmin sighed, standing up with him and walking to where the coats were hung up. “Well, before you go… I should probably give this back.” He admitted, removing the scarf from where he’d been storing it, and handing it back to Yunho.

“So thats where I left it!” Yunho laughed, taking the scarf into his hands.

“Yeah, sorry about that… I wasn’t going to steal it, I just kept forgetting to return it.” He explained.

In front of him, Yunho hadn’t stopped smiling, looking at Changmin with the same affection from before.

“You know what?” He started, glancing down at the scarf once more, before wrapping it around Changmin’s neck, “I think it suits you more.”

“What?” Changmin spluttered, turning slightly pink, “Yunho, I can’t just take your scarf!”

Smiling harder, Yunho just shrugged, “Count it as an early Christmas present then.” Changmin couldn’t argue with that, hand reaching up to hold the soft material.

They left each other with another slow kiss. Soft, tender, with just the right level of desire to keep them coming back for more.

Yunho, becoming the more responsible of the two, broke them off again, grinning stupidly as he slipped out of the apartment with one last wave.

Rushing over to the window, Changmin watched him go, eyes zoning in on the Yunho shaped figure that appeared in front of the building.

Apparently, the snow, that had been threatening to fall all week, had finally done so. A fine dusting of white, now coating the city. And Changmin couldn’t help but laugh when the thought of Christmas clichés, and winter romances entered his head.

Maybe for once, he’d allow himself to enjoy this.


	8. It's A Date

Tuesday morning arrived with a great deal of excitement.

Changmin awoke at seven a.m., grabbed a quick breakfast, showered, and dressed himself in something appropriate for his forthcoming date with Yunho.It was safe to say he was looking forward to this day — looking forward to seeing Yunho, looking forward to doing whatever he had planed for them.

It had been a while, since Changmin had been on a date. A while since he’d actually been asked by someone face to face, and even longer since he’s agreed to go so easily.

Sure, his friends had tired, over the past two years. Setting him up on excruciating blind dates in the hope to get him out and at it once again. They’d dress him up in something sexy give him the location and time to meet, before sending him off into the unknown for an evening of _romance_.

The problem? His friends were terrible match makers.

Okay, it wasn’t that his dates were _that bad_ (well, not all of them at least), in fact, some of the people he’d met over the past two years had been nice, and good looking. On top of that, some of them had obviously been interested in him.

In fact, most the time it wasn’t the dates fault to begin with. The problem appearing in the form of Changmin himself.

He’d leave the place feeling kinda… meh, about the whole situation. Was his date good looking? Sure! Did they have a good time together? Sure? Would he like to see them again? Not really.

And that’s how they’d always end. Changmin leaving with a new contact in his phone (that he’d most definitely be deleting by the end of the night), and an empty promise that he’d call them. Heading back to the comfort of his apartment with a sigh, and nothing more.

Sure, on a night out Changmin would occasionally find himself going home with someone else — an attractive stranger that would offer him nothing more than a short term stress relief.

It worked, for the most part. Changmin waking up from a one night stand alone, but refreshed (to some extent). Or leaving the apartment of his hookup with only a small niggling residue of shame and regret. Nothing a hot shower and glass of wine couldn’t wash away.

And all in all, Changmin had been fine with this system. Life was short, and stressful, and what did it matter if this was what he wanted now? What did it matter this was what he preferred? If he never settled down again — never wrote another person into his busy (and apparently boring) life?

More importantly, what did it matter if these were just excuses, lies — a way to avoid thinking about life outside of his last relationship?

Soon enough, his friends had given up. Rolling their eyes and walking away from their attempts to help. They meant well, they really did. But what they didn’t understand, was at that time, Changmin didn’t want to date someone new — still uncomfortably tangled in the mess that was his past relationship.

This time around, however, he no longer had those attachments. No longer wanted to be with Hun, or have anything to do with him, for that matter.

Now he knew what he wanted. And what he wanted was Yunho. 

The man, that had quite literally stumbled into his life by a simple mistake, turning out to be the one person he couldn’t get out of his head. The first person to hold his attention for longer than a couple of hours in over two years.

That, Changmin mused to himself, had to mean something?

The time ticked over to 9:00 a.m., and finally, there was a knock at the door.

With a spring in his step, Changmin shot up, smile already in place as he pulled the door open. “Yunho!” He greeted, not hesitating to pull the other man in for a hug — the same giddy feeling from before, once again present.

“Hi, Changdol. Did you have a good evening?”

Changmin _had_ had a good evening. He had used his free time to add some more to his article, then, once he was happy with his progress he’d called Kyuhyun. After all, there was so much to tell him.His best friend had been happy for him. Pleased that he had finally gotten rid of his terrible ex, and excited to see where this new guy might lead him.

And now, Changmin, in a considerably lighter mood than he had been all month, was ready to do anything: “I had a great evening,” He stated, “think I’m finally making some progress on my article. What about you?”

“Oh, that’s great to hear.” Yunho agreed, sounding genuinely happy for Changmin, “Yeah, I had a good evening. Busy, but good nonetheless.”

“What did you do?” Changmin asked, not really thinking about what he’d said, while he slipped into his shoes and put on his coat.

It was only when Yunho hesitated, tripping over his reply and sounding rather unsure of himself, that he looked up.

“Uh, what did I do?” there was a pause, “Well, I had to set up one of the apartments, um.” He shrugged, scratching his neck before holding the door open for Changmin, “Anyway, are you ready for today, I’ve got a lot planned.”

Pushing down the slight confusion, Changmin ignored Yunho’s less than clear answer and thanked him while slipping out of the apartment — the scarf, Yunho’s scarf — no, his scarf now, resting comfortably around his neck. 

They set off side by side, comfortably chatting about everything and nothing, as they made their way out of the building.

The snow that had started to fall, during the day, yesterday, had only doubled in depth over night. Settling on sidewalks, but now having been cleared from the roads.

Feeling playful, Changmin bent down, collecting enough snow to form into a ball, before aiming it in Yunho’s direction.

The snow hit him square in the back, taking him by surprise, and making him turn again, “Ohh, Changmin.” He chuckled, shaking his head, and crouching down to create his own snowball, “are you sure you want to start this?”

“Bring it on.” Is all Changmin replied with, dodging behind a nearby car, in order to press more loose snow into his weapon of choice.

The snowball fight went on for a good five minuets or so — both of them showing off their competitive streak, by trying their hardest to defeat the other.

It was fun and it was stupid, the two of them letting out hoots of laughter and loud shrieks whenever they got a particularly large pile of snow to the face — only stopping when an elderly lady scolded them for being too loud.

They apologised, bowing polity and hurrying over to Yunho’s car instead.

“I don’t think I’ve been that carefree, in years!” Changmin laughed, shaking the snow out of his hair and gazing warmly at Yunho, who’s cheeks and nose were pink from the cold, coat hanging off his shoulders like a child that had been playing in the snow all day.

He was smiling just as brightly, taking Changmin’s icy fingers and linking them together with his own.

As they neared each other, Changmin felt his breath hitch, chest constricting as Yunho pulled him close, slipping an arm around his waist and indulging in a frost bitten kiss, the press of cold lips warming their cheeks, like an open fire.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Yunho apologised once they had pulled apart, voice not at all regretful, and eyes shining with mirth.

Changmin didn’t reply, leaning in a stealing a second kiss for himself, “There,” He breathed, resting their foreheads together in a bid to stay close, “now we’re even.”

Somehow, they manage to make it into Yunho’s car and, eventually off to their destination.

The roads were busier today, half due to the snow, half because of how close it was to Christmas, but Yunho didn’t seem to mind about the traffic. Singing along to the songs on the radio, tapping his steering wheel and making idle chitchat as they drove. Changmin couldn’t help but smile, the actions reminding him of the first time they went out together.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Changmin asked. They were about 15 minutes into the journey by this point, and as always, Changmin was getting curious.

“There’s this market, its one of my favourites to shop at, but as its kinda out of the way, I didn’t think we’d have time to visit it last week.” He explained in return, taking the first exit on a roundabout and continuing on their journey. “I used to go there a lot when I was younger, and I still like to drop in every now and again.”

By the time they arrived, the market was already fairly busy. Rows and rows a shops lining the floor space of the building — people milling about, buying food, produce, products and other household items.

The two men didn’t mind the crowd, ambling through the market at their own slow pace.

It was lovely, and the longer the two of them spent, walking around the different stools, and looking within the many shops, the more Changmin could understand why Yunho liked it. The whole market had a completely different feel to it, than a lot of the other places they had visited over the passed week. Not that the other locations weren’t enjoyable, this one just has something special about it.

“So, do you bring _all_ your dates here?” He joked, bumping their shoulders together, as the back of their hands grazed teasingly close.

It was only too easy, for Yunho to reach out, linking their fingers while pressing their shoulders together once again, “Only the ones I really like.” He replied, a little too calmly for a statement that made Changmin’s heart rate spike and face heat up.

“Oh, so you _like me_ do you?” Changmin flirted back, eyes crinkling with the amount he was smiling.

“Are you blushing?” Was the only think Yunho replied with. Words almost teasing, as he reached a hand out to cup ever so gently at one of Changmin’s ears — the action only serving to make Changmin’s face redden further.

“No!” Changmin shot back, trying (and failing) not to lean, too, obviously into Yunho’s touch. “It’s just from the cold, besides, you didn’t answer my question.”

“You’re cute.” Yunho hummed back, “Does that answer your question.”

It didn’t, but suddenly Changmin found he really didn’t mind, stupid smile falling back onto his face as he lead Yunho forward by the hand, deciding that what they needed right now, was something to eat. 

***

“So, I have to ask…” Changmin started, pausing to eat the the Tteokbokki that Yunho offered him, “Why didn’t you just come into the apartment yesterday… I mean, you have the passcode, and it is technically _your_ place?”

“Oh, I…” Now it was Yunho’s turn to blush, “I’ll be honest, I did think about doing that… But I didn’t want to invade your personal space, or creep you out, you know?”

“Uh huh,” Changmin let out a laugh, “But knocking on the door for half an hour and worsening my headache was a better plan?”

“Changmin,” Yunho whined, dramatic pout only causing hm to laugh harder.

“It’s fine, I’m joking. Besides, I think you kinda made up for the rude awakening.”

“With cooking? You flatter me too much, I know it wasn’t very good…”

“Not just cooking,” Changmin shook his head, flashing a toothy grin at the other man, “You made it up with everything, I mean, just staying with me meant a lot, and this, this is fun, and I mean, kissing you is pretty great.”

Yunho let out a snort, shaking his head slightly, “Gah, Changdol stop, you’re making me blush.”

“Good, that way we are even again.” Changmin chided back, smiling harder — he was in a bright mood today, and Yunho was cute when he became flustered.

They had wondered around the market for a few hours longer. Hands linked, smiles wide. Just enjoying the location and each other’s company.

It was weird, exploring Gwangju without constantly thinking of the article, or working on it in his mind.

Sure, he hadn’t completely forgotten the reason he was in the city in the first place, but for once, Changmin wasn’t going to let this date be overrun with work responsibilities. He owed that much to himself.

As the afternoon neared, the two of them made their way back to Yunho’s car. Taking the slow drive back to Changmin’s place, and continuing with the easy chatter as they did so.

“Can I walk you home?” Was the first thing to leave Yunho’s mouth, as he pulled into a parking space outside the apartment complex.

“I mean, we’re literally at the apartment now but…” Changmin joked, purposely trying to get a rise out of Yunho.

“Humour me, would you?”

Letting out a laugh, Changmin nodded, “Yes,” He agreed, “My place is just up here.” He continued, playing along with Yunho’s game — slipping out of the passenger seat, and waiting for Yunho to join him.

Hand in hand, the two of them made their way into the building, hopping inside an empty elevator, and hitting the correct button.

“So, this is me…” Changmin stated, once they had made it to the front door, “I had fun today. Thank you, Yunho.” He smiled.

“I had fun too!” Yunho agreed. For a moment, he looked as if he was about to leave, when something made him stop. A moments pause, a second of hesitation — eyes trailing over Changmin’s face, before flicking into the apartment.

Seeing this, Changmin decided to use it to his advantage, reaching out a linking their fingers together: “Unless,” He started, leaning teasingly against the door frame, and watching as Yunho’s breath visibly hitched, “you’d like to come in?”

“Changmin,” Yunho breathed, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, “don’t temp me.”

“As if I’d ever do such a thing…” Changmin replied, hand trailing up Yunho’s arm before pulling gently, at the collar of his coat.

For a moment, it looked as if Yunho was going to give in. Forget about his plans, and allow Changmin to lead him into the apartment. But, unfortunately for Changmin, that moment of weakness vanished almost as quickly as it had arrived. Yunho shaking his head slightly before offering a sympathetic smile: “I can’t, sorry. Not today at least.” He apologised, taking a step back and allowing some room to form between them.

“Besides,” he continued, glimmer of something playful in his eye, “I don’t kiss on the first date.” He lied, the memories of their earlier exchanges all the evidence Changmin needed to prove him wrong.

Pushing down the wave of disappointment, that had risen its ugly head, Changmin once again decided to play along: “Are you sure about that, Yunho.” He asked, moving back into Yunho’s space, and slipping his arm’s easily around his waist.

“One-hundred percent.” Yunho hummed back, voice coming out low and breathy. Changmin knew he had him. 

“Okay then.” He agreed, continuing to move forward until their lips were mere centimetres apart — before breaking the moment, and stepping away.“See you tomorrow,” He smiled, giving the slightly bewildered Yunho one last wave, before closing the door behind him.

As expected, the door to the apartment had been closed for less than a few seconds, before there was another knock.

Letting out a laugh, Changmin shook his head: “Can I help you?”

“You tell me?” Is all Yunho managed, before the two of them were moving forward and into a kiss. It was passionate, hands roaming, lips moving — bodies melding together.

Changmin hummed into the kiss — the stretch of his smiling lips, being the thing to break them apart.

“I really do have to go.” Yunho repeated once more, reluctantly removing himself from Changmin’s arms. 

“I know.” Changmin sighed, indulging in one last kiss, before he too was stepping away, “Now go! Go do what you have to do.” Changmin agreed, sending him out the door with a teasing, but gentle, push to the shoulder.

***

Wednesday came with another date, this time, Yunho taking him out for sushi, at an authentic Japanese restaurant.

It was a beautiful place — olive and gold tones stretching out over the restaurant. Ornate wood decorating the furnishings, and paper screens acting as dividers throughout the room.

The two of them were sat at a bar, watching as the chefs worked with speed that only a professional, who had practiced for many years, would be able to do. Diligently preparing the different orders, and serving them to the other people sat at the bar.

It was a bustling restaurant, especially at a peak time like this, and Changmin felt lucky that they had even been able to get such a prime position.

As he’d been finding, throughout the majority of this trip, Changmin didn’t mind the busyness. In fact, in a situation like this, he even welcomed it — the noise adding a layer of privacy to the conversation he and Yunho were holding. Allowing them to speak close, heads craned together, and legs brushing under the bar.

“I didn’t know Gwangju men had such good taste.” Changmin joked, popping a piece of salmon into his mouth, and laughing slightly when Yunho get out an over exaggerated gasp. 

“Like I haven’t proven how good my taste is time and time again, since we’ve been doing this.” Yunho quipped back, bumping their shoulders together, before stealing a piece of sushi, that Changmin had been eyeing up. “After all,” He added between mouthfuls, “You can’t deny, I have great taste in men.”

“Hmm,” Changmin nodded, taking the statement as a compliment, “you flatter me too much.”

“I only speak the truth.”

They clinked there sake glasses together, each taking a sip, and savouring the flavour.

Exploring the city of Gwangju with a local, was almost like being native to the city. Changmin finding he instantly fell in as part of the crowd — acknowledged by the many people Yunho seemed to just know, and included in places that he should have felt excluded.

It was nice, to be seen in a place where he technically didn’t know anyone (well, anyone other then Yunho), something he often struggled to find, even in his home city. Don’t get him wrong, Seoul was great, Seoul was home. A fact that normally made it difficult for Changmin to even try and settling in else where. But here, in Gwangju, with Yunho by his side, Changmin suddenly found he could see the appeal of the city.

He smiled to himself, letting out a quiet Chuckle when he remembered Yunho’s promise: _As for the city, just give me a few days and I’ll promise to change your mind on that, or at least try!_ His text had read. And well, it may have been a bit more than just a few days, by this point, but Changmin could _definitely_ say for sure, that he had been right.

His perception of the city had changed. The once dull and uninspiring place, now stood out to Changmin. Because of the markets, the streets, the people… and Yunho of course, his enthusiasm painting a beautiful picture of what the city meant to him.

It was helpful, and enjoyable. And, as they finished off their food, Changmin realised in all his years working for the Seoul City, he’d never once has this level of input form the local community.

***

“Lets go for a walk!”

“In this weather?”

It was 9:00 a.m. on the Thursday, and as always, Yunho had just arrived at Changmin’s apartment.

The snow from over the last few days had been falling heavier everyday. Once light showers turning into heavy storms. Still, the city trudged on, roads being quickly cleared, and business running as usual.

Changmin didn’t dislike this kind of weather. In fact, give him a nice hot mug of coffee, and a well heated room, and he could watch the snow fall for hours, remembering the fun he used to have as a kid, and feeling pleased to be in the safety and warmth of his home.

However, for Yunho, watching the snow fall from the comfort of the inside, just wasn’t enough for him.

“Yes, in this weather. Have you seen it out there? It’s beautiful Changmin.”

Changmin couldn’t disagree with that. Even with the roads being cleared, and work going on like usual, the heavy snow fall had added an element of wonder to the city — helping to create the Christmas spirit, and making the whole season seem even more special.

“Fine.” Changmin gave in, ignoring the way his heart seemed to leap in his chest as Yunho let out a whoop. “But only because it will be helpful for my article.” He ended, shaking his head, when Yunho looked less than convinced by his excuse.

“Whatever you say, Changdol. Come on, let’s get going before all the snows been cleared form the parks.”

With that he was linking hands with Changmin, and practically dragging him out the door.

“What are you? A little kid?” Changmin laughed, unable to hide the fondness in his voice as he stumbled down the street, hand in hand with the other man.

“Most people just say I’m young at heart.” Yunho laughed back, swinging their joined hands between them like some love sick couple might.

“Well, they certainly got that right.” Changmin acknowledge, leaning in to press icy kisses again Yunho’s lips.

The nearby park, to Yunho’s joy, had yet to be cleared, paths, trees and grassy areas still shrouded in icy blues and powder whites. It did look beautiful, Changmin had to admit, feeling pleased that he had allowed Yunho to drag him out.

“It’s a shame schools don’t close for snow days unless it’s really bad,” Changmin sighed, gazing around at the untouched snow with a sense of pity. This place should've been crowded right now — kids running around, smiles big and laughs loud. Instead they were still in school, probably looking forward to the Christmas holiday, and wishing to be out in this winter wonderland.

“It is a shame.” Yunho agreed, looking genuinely upset about this topic, “Honestly, I feel kind of bad being out here knowing that they can’t be.” He shrugged, “Hopefully it won’t have melted before they get home.”

“Yeah,” Changmin found himself nodding, before embracing the situation, and flopping himself back into one of the deeper snow drifts, “For now, however, don’t you think we should make the most of it?”

With a laugh of his own, Yunho flopped down next to him, watching as the disturbed snow swirled around them. “You took the words straight out of my mouth.”

It was cold, understandably so, down in the snow. The ice prickling at Changmin’s neck and sending shivers down his spine. But he didn’t care, couldn’t care, not when he was gazing into the eyes of Yunho — hands linked and smiles impossibly bright. He rolled over slightly, bracing an arm on either side of the other man, in order to lean down and once again capture his lips in a sweet kiss.

The perfect moment, only being broken, when Yunho, seeing Changmin’s distraction as an opportunity, smashed a handful of snow into the back of his head.

The sudden chill, had Changmin gasping out and breaking the kiss, body tensing, as the ice began to melt down the back of his coat.

Bellow him, Yunho was laughing, face open and expression full of happiness.

“Oh you are so paying for that one!” Changmin warned, rolling away from Yunho and beginning to collect his own pile of snow. “Did you forget about our last snowball fight? If we hadn’t literally been told to stop I would have annihilated you.”

“You wish, Changdol.” Yunho just teased, sitting himself up and beginning to pelt Changmin with snowball after snowball. 

The battles always seemed to end in the same manner, bodies colliding in a tangle of limbs, and lips once again finding their way to each other.

Kissing in the snow, was quickly becoming one of Changmin’s favourite past times. He let out a laugh, shocked at the terribly clichéd sentences, that were suddenly becoming part of his internal monologue. Instead of rolling his eyes at himself, Changmin let the thought linger. Enjoying the feeling, and the warmth in his chest that continued to grow. 

He deserved this.

He deserved to be happy.

And to be perfectly honest, he deserved all the clichés he wanted.

***

Unfortunately, this perfect period eventually had to come to an end — Friday arrived with a little bit of stress.

Changmin awoke to an email from his boss:

_Hi, Changmin._

_How are things going in Gwangju?_

It started,

_Just checking in to ask how the writing is progressing, and chase up that extract that we discussed. It’s a couple days over due now, and I was hoping you’d have something to show me?_

_I look forward to seeing what you’ve written so far._

_Many thanks._

“Crap,” He swore under his breath, running a hand through his hair, before propelling himself out of bed, and into action, “how the fuck did I forget that?”

He had, in fact, talked to his boss about this very deadline, just under a week ago, promising to send her a snippet of the article as soon as he had written it. But then Hun had happened, and then Yunho had happened. And before he knew it almost seven days had passed, and he was still yet to send anything off.

That was very unlike him. To be late. To be distracted from work.

He shouldn’t be allowing himself to be _this_ sidetracked anyway — he was here for the job. He needed to remember that.

With a new push of urgency, Changmin set about getting himself up, and getting to work. Showering, dressing and eating in quick succession before grabbing his laptop, and opening up his article.All he needed to do was flesh out the opening, and get that sent over before the end of the day… that shouldn’t be too hard, should it?

Throwing himself headfirst into work, Changmin quickly lost track of time. Brain concentrating solely on the task at hand.This, of course, meant that as 9:00 a.m. arrived, Changmin was startled by the knock at the door — not even have considered to let Yunho know that he was going to be busy.

“Shit!” He swore again, pushing his chair out with a harsh scrape and rushing over to the door. “Yunho, I’m so sorry,” He shook his head, pulling open the door and coming face to face with a slightly perplexed looking Yunho.

“Whats wrong?” He asked, obviously confused as to why Changmin was apologising.

“Work emailed, and well, I’m kinda behind on schedule and I should have let you know before you got here, but I won’t be able to go out today.” He finished, smiling apologetically, and waiting for Yunho to say something.

“Thats okay, Changmin. Work’s important, I get it.” He nodded, taking a step away form the door before hesitating, and opening his mouth again, “Um,” he began, “do you prefer working here, or…well, we could go to the cafe or something?”

Now it was Changmin’s turn to hesitate. On one hand, he really should turn Yunho’s offer down. This work needed to get done, and the only way he was going to do that was by actually putting his mind to it. On the other hand, he had been thinking a change of location might be the perfect way to get into the head of his demographic. That and the fact that he really didn’t want to watch Yunho walk away.

“I mean,” Changmin nodded, “I was really craving one of those festive coffees recently.”

Yunho’s eyes lit up, obviously latching onto Changmin’s idea, “Yeah?” He questioned, “I think that can be arranged.”

Grinning back, Changmin stepped back into the apartment, in order to grab the thing he needed before joining Yunho in the hallway.

As they got into the car, Yunho looked around, patting his pockets before sighing, “Gah, sorry, I think I left my phone at home. Do you mind if we stop off there on the way over?” He asked, making sure to check, as this was technically Changmin’s work time that he was eating into.

“Oh, yeah, that’s fine.” Changmin nodded, after all, he wouldn’t mind seeing where Yunho lived — he had almost forgotten that he’d never been there before.

The drive to his place wasn’t long at all. And less then five minuets after setting off, they were pulling up outside a nice looking house.

Changmin couldn’t hide the way his eyes widened as he looked over the property. It was nice, really nice. Definitely old, but still in good condition — not too big, and definitely on the classic side with almost traditional looking features. He didn’t even know houses like this were still available to own, in a city like Gwangju — having assumed most would have been torn down and replaced with room saving apartment blocks long ago. It had old brick walls, and wooden door and window frames, that faced onto a quiet street. Nothing like the high-rise ultra modern glass apartment that Changmin had been calling home for the past two and a bit weeks

“Home sweet home.” Yunho smiled, exiting the car, but pausing before he closed the door. “You’re welcome to come in, if you want.

Agreeing easily, Changmin hopped out, making a mental note of the location, before following Yunho into the house.

Inside was just as nice as the rest of the building, rather cluttered, and definitely showing its age, but homely, nonetheless.

“This is quite a big house to live in by yourself.” Changmin couldn’t help but voice his thoughts, watching as Yunho just chuckled in return.

“I’ve never really thought of it that way.” He shrugged, “This house was originally my grandparents, so I’ve kind of always been used to it, you know?” With that, he was slipping out of his shoes, and heading into the backroom — possibly the kitchen, before remerging with his phone in hand. “There,” he stated, “found it.”

“Well, that didn’t take to long.” Changmin smiled.

“No,” Yunho agreed, shaking his head, “I didn’t think it would, I just need to stop leaving it lying around.” He laughed, slipping back into his shoes and once again exiting the house. “Sorry I can’t give you a tour today,” he apologised, holding the front door open and allowing Changmin to exit first, “The place is a real mess at the moment.” He offered as an explanation, smiling slightly sheepishly as they got back in the the vehicle.

“Its fine,” Changmin assured, “Besides, I should probably get on with this extract.”

They arrived in good time to the little cafe, paying for their drinks before settling down into a free table.

Yunho sipped at his coffee, picking up an available newspaper from the table next to them, and beginning to read as Changmin set up his own work station.

They sat quietly in the warmth of the cafe — the only sound to break the silence being the bustling of the staff and customers around them.

With a coffee to his side, Yunho in front of him, and a new found wave of motivation, Changmin found he was able to write easily for the first time in weeks. His ideas flowed, notes turning into sentences and sentences into paragraphs.

After producing something he was genuinely happy with for the introduction, Changmin (once he'd sent off a snippet to his boss) decided to keep working. After all, it wasn’t everyday that he felt this inspired.

Yunho didn’t seem to mind, cycling between reading, going on his phone, and buying more drinks and the occasional snack to keep them going.

He had been particularly quiet, over the course of the day. At first, Changmin hadn’t really thought much of it, after all he was working, maybe Yunho was just being respectful. However, as they day went on, and Changmin started talking more, Yunho still stayed subdued.

“Hey,” Changmin chanced, he had just been rambling on about something unimportant, when he noticed the other man’s far off look, mind not quite in the room, “Are you okay, today?”

At the new line of question, Yunho snapped his head up, attention once more back on Changmin. “Oh,” he replied, as if he’d only just realised the lull he’d been in, “yeah,” he nodded, “I’m fine, sorry if I worried you, I guess I’m just tired today.” He shrugged, lifting up his half empty coffee mug and finishing the lukewarm drink in one go. “how are things going on the writing front?” He asked in return, obviously wanting to move the conversation off of him.

“To be honest, I think I’m done for the day.” Changmin decided, closing down his laptop as he spoke, and putting away his things for the time being.

“Yeah? Perfect timing.” Yunho nodded, checking his phone, “I should probably get going as well.”

“Oh, oaky.” Changmin tried to hide the disappointment from his voice. He’d kind of been hoping to invite Yunho over for a drink. He kind of been hoping, that after several wonderful dates, they’d finally be able to lead on from where they left off the other day.

Still, he couldn’t feel letdown, not really. After all, Yunho had always made it very clear, that his evenings and weekends were busy for him. Changmin couldn’t expect him to drop everything, just because he wanted him around.

“Oh, and on top of that.” Yunho continued, once again darting his eyes away, shutting himself off slightly. “I’m gonna be… busy, on Monday, so uh, we won’t be able to meet up.”

“Okay,” Changmin nodded, smile fading slightly but voice remaining unwavering. “Have you got anything nice planned?” He asked, trying to continue the conversation to once again disguise the lack of enthusiasm in his voice.

“Not really,” Yunho shook his head, sounding just as down as Changmin was feeling, “But it’s important, and I need to be there so…” He shrugged, at a loss of how he should end that sentence. “But hey,” He added with a lighter note, “We’ll still have time to catch up after that.”

“Yeah,” Changmin nodded, “Yeah, I mean, I’m free on Christmas Eve so… we could always do something then?”

Yunho seemed to relax a little at this, smiling fondly at him, “I’d like that,” He nodded, linking their hands briefly over the table, before they both stood and exited the shop together.


	9. Productivity

Unlike last time, Changmin’s weekend alone went quickly and smoothly.

Having well and truly settled into the city and his daily routine by this point, he found himself being able to properly get on with his job, and finish the majority of the second draft by the time Saturday evening had rolled around.

Notes had turned into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs. And now, after a few nonstop days of really putting his head to the work he was here to do, everything was beginning to fall into place, and make sense.

His boss had been extremely pleased with the segment he’d sent over, praising him on his work so far, and reminding him that he wasn’t suppose to be overshadowing Seoul with this article.

Changmin had apologised, making a mental note to change a couple of sentences here and there, to make it more suitable to his regular readers. 

He was really happy so far, with how his article was turning out. Sure, he knew he would have gotten there eventually, but even so, he had to worry a little — having to sell Christmas when he himself couldn’t care less, was no easy task.

Saturday drifted into Sunday, without much hassle. Changmin finding he had plenty to do, to keep him busy and occupied.

After spending the morning reading through what he’d been working on the day before, Changmin did one more double check through his notes, changing the few things he had set aside, before deciding to take the day off.

As it was, he’d gotten a lot done, over the past few days. And right now, all he needed to do was walk away from it — the only thing he found would help him see his writing through a fresh perspective.

For a moment, he considered texting Yunho. Asking him how his weekend was going, and maybe asking if he wanted to read a bit of his article — see how his ramblings lined up with what Yunho thought about the city.

However, after a pause, he decided not to. Yunho was busy, he’d said so himself, therefore Changmin texting him and distracting him with his own work, was only that… a distraction.

Instead, he decided to head out for awhile, wandering around the now familiar streets of Gwangju, just taking in the local sights, and the people who were also out for the day.

There was still snow on the street — slightly slushy in places, and stained grey (the grime of the city, slowly but surly, seeping through), however, for the most part, it still felt like a winter wonderland.

Being the weekend, there were more people also milling about in the city: children attempting to make snowmen in the parks, families wandering in groups, and Changmin, Changmin felt almost lonely.

It wasn’t a strong emotion. Wasn’t overbearing. Just there, a twitch of how he used to be, a prickling of discomfort that reminded him that this is what he was was used to feeling.

Alone, at Christmas time.

A part of him was annoyed that he’d come to enjoy Yunho’s company so much, over the last few weeks. Annoyed that he now came to expect it. Annoyed that because of this, a part of him was missing the other man’s presence right at that moment.

However, another (definitely larger), part of him, was completely okay with it.

_Because why not?_ He’d found himself questioning. Why _shouldn’t_ he enjoy this? In fact, why _shouldn’t_ he throw himself head first into this?

Was it because it was all still new? Because it was unlike him to trust this easily, this quickly? Because they were still getting to know each other?

Since when had this stopped people in the past? Changmin knew plenty of couples who had built strong, beautiful relationships on less than this. So, why shouldn’t he?

Yunho seemed to like him. Yunho seemed to care about him. And, if Changmin was being perfectly honest with himself, he could confirm that he felt exactly the same.

They didn’t have to move to fast. They could take things slow. After all, Changmin would be going back to Seoul in just over two weeks, and Yunho would be staying here.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t have something.

As he was thinking this, walking along the same park they’d been in a few days prior, Changmin couldn’t shake the undeniable fact that he wouldn’t mind — wouldn’t mind trying ‘long distance’, wouldn’t mind taking thinks slower, wouldn’t mind being in a relationship with Yunho.

And that thought, as terrifying as it was, was also thrilling. He hadn’t felt like this for years, resigned himself to a life without romantic love — decided he didn’t need it, didn’t want it. Not anymore, not if Hun wouldn’t be the one he gave it to.

But now, in the winter park in the city of Gwangju, a strong emotion welled up in his chest, making him want to burst — smile un-expectantly splitting his face. He couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop it, giddiness running through his veins, as he thought about Yunho and him: together, making things work, continuing to see each other even after the Christmas season had ended.

It was exhilarating.

To any passersby, Changmin must have looked like a mad man. Eyes gazing off, face beaming.

He was happy. He was more than happy.

It was at times like this, heart just about ready to explode, that he was revealed to have a little sense of self restraint — knowing that if he didn’t, there’d be nothing stopping him from forgetting about Yunho’s busy scheduled, and rushing over to his home right now.As it was, maybe it would be good to sleep on this realisation. Decide if it really was his true feelings, before bringing them up around Yunho. He didn’t want to rush the other man.

Coming to the conclusion, that waiting till Tuesday was the best plan, Changmin realised just how cold he was feeling — winter chill well and truly sunken into his bones by this point, and decided to head back home.

***

Monday morning arrived with the same giddiness from the day before. Feelings not fading with time, or lessening over night.

He’d done a lot of thinking, over the past twelve hours. Thinking about himself, thinking about his past, his present, his future plans. Thinking about Yunho.

And with each thought, each passing hour, each realisation, Changmin watched as each pathway, each possibility lead to the same outcome.

He wanted Yunho — wanted him in his life.

It was reassuring, to realise that these thoughts and feelings still existed several hours after the original realisation. Reassuring to know that he wasn’t making it up, or looking too deeply into anything. The ghosts of his last relationship no longer casting minuscule doubts over what he knew to be true.

Besides, there was no point worrying about anything right now. Not until he’d at least tried to talk to Yunho — see if he felt the same way, and find out if a relationship was even something he’d be interested in taking further. Until then, he’d just have to wait, he’d just have to be patient.

Luckily for Changmin, being patient was something he was good at.

He busied himself throughout the morning with everyday tasks, before re-reading the work he’d complete so far, and then sending off a few emails to work, to let them know how he was getting on.

It was good, it was productive… It was stupidly boring.

Changmin found himself becoming easily distracted by the mere thought of the other man: Yunho’s laughter, positivity, personality.It worked in some ways, as a motivation. Knowing that the quicker the time passed, the sooner they’d be seeing each other again.And yeah, he knew just how whipped that sounded…

Time passed. Changmin, completely wrapped up in his routine, and busy with the work he’d been doing, almost didn’t even notice the hours progressing.

His train of thought only being interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door.

Starling slightly, he snapped his head up, eyes drifting away from the book he was currently thumbing through, and over to the entrance.

He paused, debating what to do. It was kind of late for someone to be needing him. And, for all the person on the other side of the door knew, Changmin could be asleep by this time of night. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t, didn’t matter that all the lights were on and he was most definitely not dressed for bed. This intruder _could_ (hypothetically) be interrupting his rest.

On top of that, Changmin couldn’t help but feel a strange twinge of worry enter his system: what if it was Hun? Would his ex have the guts to come back even after he’d been turned away the week prior?

In all honesty, that did sound like something he’d be willing to do, no matter if it went against Changmin’s wishes or not.

It was this thought, that had him hovering — unsettled and no longer sure of what to do.

A moment passed, and then from behind the door came another knock. It was quieter this time, less energy — less anger than Changmin was expecting. The dull sound, followed shortly by an unmistakable voice:“Changmin?” It sounded, tone low and obviously upset, “Are you awake? Please be awake.” It pleaded.

Recognition hitting him directly in the chest, Changmin once again felt his heart speed up. The pitiful, ever so sad sounding voice, belonged to none other than Yunho.

With a different kind of urgency in his system, Changmin rushed over to the door, pulling it open with questions on the tip of his tongue and eyebrows knitted together in worry.

“Yunho, what’s—” he began to ask, words being quickly cut off when he was once again enveloped into one of Yunho’s tight hugs.

“Changmin, _shit_.” He cursed, shaking his head slightly, before burying his face in the crook of his neck.

“Yunho,” Changmin repeated, holding the other man close to his chest, and beginning to rub calming circles into his back — an action that had always helped him relax when he was in a state like this, “Whats wrong, are you okay? Has something happened?” He rambled, worries toppling off his tongue one after an other.

Again, Yunho just shook his head — unable to vocalise what he was feeling at this moment in time: “I didn’t know who else to turn to.” He admitted, eyes meeting Changmin’s for just a second before darting way, “And I’m sorry, this is probably stupid, and far fetched, and totally inappropriate… but I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I missed you and,” He leant forward, cutting off his own words with a slow kiss, that seems to send a wave of sparks throughout the entirety of Changmin’s body.

“Couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He repeated like a mantra, placing another kiss against his face, “You and you’re perfect everything,” another one, “And the way you make me feel.” His movements were getting almost desperate at this point. Hands reaching, lips begging for more.

Despite every nerve in his body screaming _YES,_ Changmin managed to control the sudden want thrumming through his body, to put a stop to their actions before they could go too far.

“Yunho,” He breathed, pushing himself away, and gently trailing his fingers against the other man’s face. “you’re not thinking straight, talk to me. I don’t want you to regret anything, come the morning.” He requested.

“I,” Yunho seemed to be at a slight loss of words, head ticking over the different possibilities. He frowned, eyes trailing over Changmin’s face before: “I need you.” Were the only words to eventually tumble out of his mouth — cheeks staining red, and eyes reflecting the same burning desire that Changmin felt.

Unable to help it, Changmin let out a low groan. Sound starting at the back of his throat, want once again making itself well known. He watched as Yunho moved back into his personal space — beginning to pepper soft, but desperate kisses against his jaw, his neck, his face. And Changmin felt all prior arguments begin to crumble away.

His knees became weak, body reacting on its own, and hands threading themselves into Yunho’s hair. He should deny this, could say no… but he didn’t want to — didn’t want to say no, didn’t want to stop what was happening. Lust trickling into his vanes and pleasure heightening his senses.

He wanted this, just as much as Yunho did.

But, as he opened his mouth, greedy moan on the tip of his tongue, he still found himself asking, “Are you sure?” To the other man, as if his words of concern would have any effect on either of them by this point.

“Yes.” Yunho answers, moving from where he’d been decorating Changmin’s skin, in order to look him in the eye — expression firm, gaze unwavering. “I need you, Changmin. I want you. And,” He shook his head slightly, face twitching into a barely there smile, “I’d be lying to myself if I haven’t wanted you since the first day we met.”

“Really?” Changmin felt his breath catch in his throat, heat once again flooding his body.

“Don’t sound so surprised, Changmin” Yunho chuckled, eyes impossibly tender as he gazed over Changmin’s expression, “You were gorgeous — are gorgeous.” He nodded, diving in for another kiss, “Launching at me with that teasing dressing gown, and gosh I just couldn’t look away.” He admitted, hands continuing to trail over Changmin’s body. “I was so happy when you took me up on my offer, getting to know you has been wonderful, and I’ve enjoyed spending time with you… And I’ve kind of realised, that I wouldn’t mind more — More of you, more of us. Together.” He punctuated his sentence with another kiss, pressing it against the corner of Changmin’s lips, hands trailing down his front.

With a glimmer of excitement, and anticipation buzzing through his system, Changmin pushed back into the next kiss — pulling Yunho closer, and watching with bated breath, as the other man practically arched into his touch. “Yunho,” Changmin groaned, breaking the kiss but keeping them close — the last few weeks of sexual tension coming out in one huge wave, “I feel the same.” He admitted, biting his lip to attempt to control his giddy emotions.

They both stilled, chests heaving, gaze locked, breath mingling.

Yunho was looking at Changmin with hooded eyes, tongue darting out to wet his lips, eyelashes fluttering against his cheek. He was beautiful, and enticing, and Changmin wanted every part of him.

“Then,” Yunho began, moving forward and whispering hotly into Changmin’s ear, “what are we waiting for?”

And with that, Changmin didn’t waste anymore time, taking Yunho by the hand and leading him back towards the bedroom.

_So much for taking things slow_ , he chuckled to himself, smiling stupidly, at this unexpected turn of events. 

Making a mental note to properly discuss everything that had happened this night, plus the things he’d been thinking about over the weekend, at a later date, Changmin set about pressing Yunho into the luxurious kingsized mattress and working on removing the layers of fabric that were currently between them.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was the man in front of him. Right now everything else could wait, after all, this was much more important.

***

Changmin awoke on the morning after, to the feather soft press of lips against his face. He was warm, he was comfortable, and more importantly he was completely content.

Last night had been wonderful. Bodies entwined, breath mingling — hearts beating in sync. He had felt on top of the world, pressed impossibly close to Yunho, and spurred on by the low moans and sharp gasps of pleasure to leave the other’s mouth.

They had fallen asleep eventually, wrapped comfortably in each others embrace. Bodies relaxed, limbs tangled in the soft sheets of the bed, pillows scattered around them.

It had been peaceful, and calm. And as Changmin lay there, smile etched onto his lips, and heart full with a not _quite_ unnameable emotion, he couldn’t imagine any other person he’d rather be with in that moment of time.

Yunho had seemed just as content, the strange desperation from before, completely vanishing along with whatever anxiety had been in his system. Draping himself over Changmin, and burying himself close to his side. It had been exactly what they both needed, any and all stress leaving their minds, and allowing them to drift off into a restful sleep.

The room was still dark, as Changmin opened his eyes, blinds drawn, and winter sun yet to rise. However, Changmin didn’t have a hard time locating Yunho, linking his tired arms around his neck and splaying his fingers against the soft skin of his back

He couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face, happily accepting the kisses, and continuing to pull Yunho closer.

“Morning, Changmin.” He murmured, nosing his way into the warmth of Changmin’s bare chest, and placing a kiss there as he did so.

“How are you feeling?” Changmin asked, eyes fluttering slightly as he attempted to sit himself up in bed. He wanted to make sure Yunho was alright, he hadn’t been himself last night, and Changmin couldn’t help but worry about him. They needed to talk about this, needed to talk about them, and why Yunho had been so out of character.

“So much better, thank you Changdol, I really appreciate you being there for me.” He nodded, running a hand down the one of Changmin’s arms while gazing fondly at him.

“You don’t have to thank me, I’m happy to return the favour.” Changmin quirked his lips, thinking about all the times Yunho had been there for him, over the time they’d known each other.

Above him, Yunho just smiled, eyes sparkling as he once again leant down to place a kiss against his lips.

“Do you, maybe want to talk about it?” Changmin asked moments later, once Yunho had made himself comfortable against his chest — ear resting directly over his heart.

There was a pause, Changmin’s words resting heavily in the air. “I…” Yunho seemed to hesitate, “I will, I promise…” He paused again, seeming to debate what to say next, “Its nothing bad,” He assured, “But, I kinda… can we just enjoy this for a little longer?”

In all honesty, that wasn’t the answer Changmin was looking for. However, right now, with Yunho obviously still feeling fragile from whatever had happened, he didn’t want to push it.

Nodding, Changmin lifted his hand — gently running his fingers through Yunho’s hair: “Okay,” He agreed, pulling his bottom lip in between his teeth before voicing his next sentence: “but we will talk about it. Today, when you’re ready of course. We’ve got quite a lot to talk about.” He smiled — Yunho’s soft chuckle sending warm vibrations through his chest.

“Yes, of course!” Yunho agreed, sounding almost eager as he spoke, “I’m sorry, if I seem reluctant—” He smiled, cutting himself off mid sentence in order to push himself up — once again gazing down at Changmin: “I like you Changmin, I like you a lot.” He whispered, “And I know we live in different cities, and really haven’t known each other for very long… but, I don’t know,” He chuckled, “call me an idiot, but I really wouldn’t mind continuing to get to know you, and spending more time with you and,” his smile quirked into a slight smirk, “maybe doing more of this…” his eyes flicked over Changmin’s exposed chest, gaze wandering over his still naked body.

And finally, Changmin allowed himself to breath a sigh of relief: “Well, if you’re an idiot, I hate to think what that makes me.” He chuckled, face braking into a grin: “I like you too, Yunho — in fact, I was anxious that you wouldn’t feel the same, and that maybe I’d been reading to much into your kindness, but I do, I really like you… and I too would like to spend more time with you, do more with you, and besides, two and a bit hours is hardly long distance.”

Yunho grinned back, nodding his head before leaning down to kiss Changmin once again. This time with a little more passion, a little more desire.

They didn’t spent too long in bed after that, escaping from their nest of blankets and cushions and putting the large shower to good use, before getting dressed for the day.

The stillness of the morning was broken, as they were eating breakfast: The pair where chatting about something unimportant, when Yunho’s phone started to ring. He glanced down at the screen, brows scrunching slightly as he took in who was calling: “Sorry, I really need to take this.” He apologised, sending a quick smile to Changmin before he was pushing up, out of the chair, and walking into the bedroom.

Changmin didn’t mind, Yunho was a busy man after all, it was probably something work related. He smiled as he watched him leave, eyes trained of the curve of his back: he really was gorgeous.

Whoever was on the phone, didn’t talk for very long, and before Changmin new it, Yunho was returning. Unfortunately, this time with an expression twisted between concerns and guilt: “I’m sorry, Changdol,” he apologised, not walking back over to the table, but instead over to where he’d left his shoes from the night before, “I really have to go, something important’s… come up and, I don’t think I’m going to be free today.” He explained, placing his phone down on a surface, in order to tie his shoelaces.

“Oh,” Changmin tried to hide the disappointment in his voice, nodding in understanding, “will you be free later?” He chanced, really hopping the answer would be yes, so that the two of them would be able to spend some more time together.

“I’m not sure.” Yunho admitted, “I, I kind of have, um, family stuff going on, over the next couple of days… being Christmas, and all…” He stated, sounding as if he wished he had a different answer, “But, things will all go quiet after boxing day.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Changmin nodded, standing to walk over to where Yunho was now shrugging into his coat. “I’ve got the reminder of writing to finish over the next few days anyway — I mean, Christmas is the main part of his article!” He chuckled, laugh sounding fake to his own ears.

In front of him, Yunho winced slightly, looking reluctant to leave. “I really am sorry. God, I must look like a right ass, this isn’t…” He paused, moving to hold one of Changmin’s hands, “I’ll make it up to you, the next time we see each other, I’ll explain everything I promise.” He finished, the sincerity in his voice making Changmin’s treacherous heart beat a little faster.

“Its okay,” Changmin smiled, “It’s Christmas, everyone’s busy. Now go!” He joked, giving his hand one more squeeze before releasing him, “Before I make you want to stay.” He finished with a wink, allowing himself to be pulled in for one more kiss, before watching as Yunho hurried out of the apartment.

The door closed with an auditable click, and Changmin let out a long sigh, “Well, that sucks,” He mumbled to himself, shaking his head before, walking back into the living room.

So much had happened over the last few days. So many thoughts and feelings, confessions.

He’d realised that he wanted to be in a relationship with Yunho, he found out that Yunho had feelings for him too… they’d slept together, and now, once again Yunho was gone, and Changmin was left feeling none the wiser about where they stood in terms of each other.

A little voice in the back of his head, told him he was over thinking things, Yunho had promised him that they’d talk about everything. And all Changmin had to do was be patient… again.

But that wasn’t a problem, not really. After all, you couldn’t rush a good thing.


	10. The night before Christmas

The day progressed, hours once again taking their time, as Changmin tried to set himself to a task.

It was simple: continue writing. Read over what he’d done, add some more, re-write some parts. Repeat.

The same cycle he’d been replaying over and over, as he wrote this article.

And yet, here he was, face down on the table, half way through his fourth coffee and feeling bored out of his mind.

No matter what he tried, he just couldn’t concentrate on the job at hand — mind wandering, brain becoming distracted from the work he was suppose to be doing.

In the nicest possible way: it was all Yunho’s fault.

His head had been on a constant loop of the other man, since he’d left the apartment that morning. Circling between feeling warm and giddy — memories of last nights activities and their wonderful morning, creating overbearing happiness and making him feel almost weightless — and, unfortunately, slight anxiety.

Changmin just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to Yunho. More than the bright smile, and loud personality. More than he was showing to the people around them, to the friends he’d always say hello to, to Changmin. And it was that thought, that made him worry. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Yunho, because he did, he really did — the other man had been nothing but sweet and charming, and thoughtful to him, no matter what Changmin seemed to throw his way. But he had an air of mystery to him, a sense of secrecy, and, as much as Changmin wanted to know what he was hiding, he was also kind of nervous about it.

But then again, maybe Yunho really was busy, and the only thing he’d be needed to explain, was a difficulty at work that had got him all stressed out.

Maybe that’s exactly what he was trying to do right now. Fix whatever was going wrong, in order to help others out over Christmas.

Maybe it was to do with one of the properties, or the tenants — there were plenty of perfectly normal reasons that Yunho might have had to rush off today.

Deciding that he was wasting him time on being unnecessarily worried, Changmin let out a long sigh, before heading out. Sometimes the only way to reset, was to get some fresh air.

He left the house wrapped in the same coat and scarf he’d been wearing regularly, and took off down the street in search of something new.

For the rest of that afternoon, Changmin worked his time away from a coffee shop just down the road form him. He had stumbled across it when trying to decide where to go, after coming to the conclusion that the usual one him and Yunho had been visiting, was too far way to walk to, in this weather. Instead, he’d settled on a more basic, chain store.

It was larger than the other coffee shop. Larger, and busier and definitely not as comfortable, but Changmin didn’t mind, managing to grab himself a corner table, by the window and ordering a sickly looking Christmas coffee. There were a lot of other people milling around the cafe, generic background music mingling with different voices to create a busy, but tolerable ambiance to the place.

It would do, for the afternoon. Or at least until he’d found his motivation once again.

He spent a couple of hours in the coffee shop — whiling away his time, and working as much as he could on the article.

There wasn’t too much to go now, and Changmin was kind of relieved — this article had been un-expectantly difficult.

Before the evening rolled around, Changmin once again packed up his laptop, heading back out into the street. While he’d been enjoying his coffee, a thought popped into his head. He still didn’t have any Christmas gift for Yunho.

Now to be fair, giving gifts hadn’t really been something they’d discuses. However, Yunho had technically gifted him the scarf, and Changmin felt he should at least return the favour. It was the least he could do, after everything Yunho had done for him.

By the time he got home, the sun was setting and the night drawing in. Unable to put things off for any longer, Changmin decided to text Yunho to see how his day had gone. After how stressed he’d seemed the day before, he wanted to make sure things had been smoother today.

He got in, hanging up his coat and scarf, before making his way into the main living area, and opening up his messages: _I hope things went well today_ , he typed out, deciding that that was a good ice breaker, before adding, _I’ve been thinking of you_ , just because he couldn’t help himself.

He pressed send on the message, watching it zip off to wherever Yunho was right now.

Apart from, that isn’t quite what happened, because instead of the message going to read, and Yunho replying, like Changmin had expected, he was instead surprised when, from across the room, Yunho’s ringtone went off.

Blinking in confusion, Changmin turned his head in the direction of the the sound, eyes landing on the small table and in turn, on Yunho’s phone.

He frowned, he must have forgotten to pick it up in his hurry to leave?

Now, if Yunho was anything like Changmin (and from the way he normally kept his device close, it did seem that way) he probably relied heavily on his mobile. In which case, leaving it behind must have been a mistake, and by this point he’d probably be wandering where it was.

Deciding that the best plan of action would be to return it, Changmin walked across the room with a spring in his step.

A spring in his step, that quickly came to a halt, when he picked up Yunho’s phone.

He wasn’t planning on looking at the screen, didn’t want to seem like he was snooping, or invade Yunho’s privacy in anyway. However, as he picked it up, the back light flashed on, and revealed something that caught Changmin’s attention.

It was a notification. Not his text from minutes ago, not the missed call notifications, but one just below that.

The thing that caught his attention first, was the lack of a name. Because, instead of any kind of name adorning the top of the text (for example, it seemed Changmin was down as Changdol), the only thing that was present were several heart emojis in varying designs.

The next thing he noticed, was the text itself. Short, and to the point — something Changmin couldn’t help but instantly read, as he scanned over the screen. It simply stated: _I miss you._

Changmin felt his blood run cold.

He frowned, eyes fluttering slightly as he read and re-read the text.

This couldn’t be real.

There had to be another explanation.

Wracking his brain, Changmin attempted to recall passed conversations with Yunho. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember Yunho ever mentioning someone important.

Of course, it could be close friend, or maybe him and his sister had a close relationship? There just had to be something more. Maybe it was a mistake? A joke? A wrong number?

The more he thought about it, the more stupid he felt.

He was an idiot. A desperate, lonely, stupid idiot. And, despite Changmin’s best wishes, Yunho had taken advantage of him.

He’d used him, when he was most fragile. Exploited the situation in order to get closer to him, made him think he cared… and to top it all off, to make everything ten times worse, it now seemed that Changmin had helped Yunho cheat on someone.

Changmin was a bad a Hun’s soon to be wife.

And Yunho, it turned out, was just as shitty as the rest of them.

With nausea rising in his system, Changmin debated what to do. He paced the apartment, phone still gripped tight in his hand, anxiety quickly turning into anger.

Was this what Yunho had wanted to talk about? Was this what he had left in a rush about?

How had Changmin been so blind, so gullible? How had he fallen for this shit _again_?

He felt like utter crap, breathing out heavily through his nose before storming over to the door way. This needed to be sorted. He needed to talk to Yunho, and he needed to do it now! For the sake of whoever the text was from, to unearth whatever Yunho had been hiding from him. But more importantly, for Changmin. He didn’t want to be in this kind of situation again, he didn’t want to see someone else hurt in the way he had. And If he could, he wanted to make it right.

He forced his coat on, stamping his feet into his shoes, and slipped both his phone, and Yunho’s into an empty pocket. For a moment, he went to reach for his scarf — Yunho’s scarf, before stopping himself. There was _no way_ he was going to wear _that_ , no matter how cold it was outside.

“Fuck,” Changmin cursed angrily, throwing the scarf to his side, before launching himself out the door.

By this point, he was fuming. Body not even registering the cold as he made his way out of the apartment complex, and toward Yunho’s place. He could remember the address, and under the rage he was in now, it wouldn’t take him long to get there.

It was nearing six p.m. as Changmin rounded the corner of Yunho’s street, and came face to face with his house.

The lights were on, car parked just outside. The house looked rather empty, and as Changmin neared the front door, a large part of him hope the other man would be alone. This would be a lot easier without an audience.

Another part of him felt confused. Wasn’t Yunho doing something with his family for the next few days? Wouldn’t they be staying with him? Or, he let out a shudder, was that just another lie to keep Changmin off his trail?

Unable to hold himself back anymore, he raised his fist to the door, and started banging.

At first, there seemed to be no reply, the house remaining quiet, as Changmin waited for someone to answer him. Growing in frustration, he knocked again — for longer this time. Hoping to gain the attention of _someone_ inside, in order for him to give Yunho a piece of his mind.

Still, there was no answer.

Letting out a sound of irritation, Changmin resorted to the last option, raising his voice: “Yunho,” He started, shakiness betraying his true emotions. He cleared his throat before continuing: “Yunho, open the door, or I swear to god I’ll—”

The door opened, Changmin’s demand doing the job.

However, instead of the guilty or apologetic face of Yunho, that he was expecting to see, Changmin was met by the quizzical stare, of a little girl…

She was small, and obviously shy: face half obscured by the door, and hair tied up in a pair of messy bunches.

Changmin was hit was a wave of regret, on top of his confusion. Guilt for the way he had been acting moments before, entering his system. The banging on the door, had probably scared her.

“Hello?” She questioned, after a few seconds had passed, and Changmin still hadn’t said a word.

“Oh, hello.” Changmin replied, crouching down to address her at her level, “I was just looking for Yunho… is he in?”

The little girl nodded, quickly disappearing from behind the door, and running off down the hallway. As she left, Changmin could swear he heard her call the name ‘daddy’ in a high pitched adorable tone.

“Daddy?” He mumbled to himself, blinking at the door that had just closed in his face, “No,” He shook his head, “that can’t be right.”

There was the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway, Changmin standing himself back up to his full hight, just in time for the door to be opened, and none other than Yunho himself to come into view. “Changmin?” He questioned, sounding slightly alarmed, as he took in the sight of the other man in front of him, “I wasn’t expecting to see you this evening…”

“Oh,” And suddenly, Changmin was at a loss of words. Eyes trailing between the girl from before (who was hugging tightly to one of Yunho’s legs), and the little boy, who was currently hoisted up in his arms. “I’m sorry.” He apologised instantly, stepping away from the door before fumbling through this pocket, for Yunho’s phone, “I was just being inconsiderate, its just you left this at the apartment, and I thought… well, I don’t know what I thought but,” He shook his head, cutting off his own rambling: “I’ll leave, I’m sorry.” He finished, stepping away from the door, and forcing a tight lipped smile in the direction of Yunho and the two children (his two children?).

Yunho took the phone, glancing once over the screen, before he was reaching out to stop him: “No,” he shook his head, hand landing ever so gently onto Changmin’s shoulder, “I mean, you don’t have to be sorry… you don’t have to apologise, I just wasn’t…” He trailed off, taking a deep breath, before continuing, “Look, I was just about to serve dinner, stay, eat with us and I’ll explain everything.” He pleaded, taking a step into the house, and indicating for Changmin to follow.

Against his better judgment, Changmin did as he was asked. Nodding once, before making his way inside.

He toed off his shoes, slipping out of his coat, and looking around for somewhere to hang it.

In an instance, Yunho was there — having freed the younger boy from his arms in order to help Changmin with his outerwear.

The two children ran off together, giggling in the way that only young kids do, and racing each other into the living room.

Changmin looked at Yunho, and cocked his eyebrow — Yunho winced slightly. “I will explain everything… I promise” He stated, looking at Changmin with nothing but honesty in his eyes, “But, is it okay if we just wait until I’ve put them to bed for the night, it will be easier that way.”

“Okay,” Changmin agreed, taking a deep breath before offering a kind smile in Yunho’s direction, “Just tell me one thing… are they yours?”

“They are.” Yunho nodded, unable to stop the soft smile that spread its way across his face, as he gazed off in the direction his children had ran, “Yeah, they’re my babies. Younghee’s the oldest, she’s nine and growing up so fast,” He shook his head, “and my littlest is Jiwoo, he’ll be seven in January.”

Now it was Changmin’s turn to wince, nodding along to what Yunho was saying. “God,” he sighed, “I’m so sorry, I’m interrupting your family time. This is so rude of me, I should just leave.”

“No,” Yunho once again rushed to stop him, “please stay. I, I’ve been meaning to tell you about them, and besides, there’s no point sending you away now.” He finished, placing Changmin’s coat on a hook, and leading him into the main living area.

There were Christmas decorations on display throughout the room: paper chains, tinsel, and a large tree in the corner. It was warm, the soft glow of a lamp making the room feel cosy and intimate. Changmin hadn’t seen this far into the house last time — it really was the picture perfect family home.

“Younghee, Jiwoo,” Yunho called, waiting for both kids to stop playing for long enough to pay attention to what he had to say, before continuing, “Meet Changmin… he’s daddy’s…” he trailed off.

“—Good friend.” Changmin finished for him, smiling reassuringly at the man next to him, before turning his attention to the two kids.

“Hello, Changmin.” Younghee greeted, standing up from where she’d been sitting, “My name is Younghee, its nice to meet you even though you sounded very angry at my daddy when you were at the door… Please don’t be mean to him Mr, he’s too nice for you to be a meanie to!”

Once again crouching down to her eye level, Changmin took her hand in a gentle shake, “It’s nice to meet you too, Younghee. And don’t worry, I’m not angry at your daddy, I’m sorry if I scared you.” He apologised, wishing he could go back on how he was acting before.

Younghee, however, seemed happy with that answer, letting out a shy laugh, before skipping away, and towards her younger brother: “And this is Jiwoo.” She introduced, “Say hi to Changmin, Jiwoo.”

“Hi, Chwangmin.” Jiwoo whispered back, before bursting into high pitched giggles, and hiding his face behind the soft toy he had been playing with. 

“Right,” Yunho clapped his hands together, once again addressing his children, “are you two lovelies going to be okay while me and Changmin lay the table?”

“Yes daddy we’ll be fine!” Both kids chorused back in perfect unison.

“Good!” Yunho smiled, before turning to address Changmin, “Changminnie, are you okay with that?”

At the soft, kind look on his face, Changmin couldn’t help but smile back — standing himself up, and walking over to where Yunho was positioned: “Yeah. I suppose i’m happy to help… but then again, what’s in it for me?” He added as a joke, eyes sparkling.

“How about my unwavering gratitude, and a plate of food?” Yunho grinned back as he lead the way into the kitchen, and towards to where the food was ready to be served.

“Okay,” Changmin nodded, “I think that will be good enough.”

They didn’t talk much, as they prepared the dinner table. Plating up food in a comfortable silence, before moving them into the dining room together.

It was nice, it was domestic and, somewhat surprisingly, Changmin found himself enjoying it. Enjoying doing something completely mundane, completely normal, with Yunho by his side.

Enjoying playing house.

“Kids, food’s ready!” Yunho called, once everything had been set up, helping both his children into their seats, and smiling wide as they dug into their meal.

Changmin and Yunho sat on the opposite side of the table — hands close enough to brush, while they too began to eat. “Now,” Yunho started, already sounding slightly apologetic, “you know as well as anyone, that i’m not much of a cook…” He admitted, as Changmin went to take his first bite, “But, I do always try and make it at least taste good… or else I’ll have my hardest critics to answer to…” he nodded his head in the direction of his children, chuckling softly as they slurped loudly at their food.

Letting out his own huff of laughter, Changmin turned to face Yunho, and took his first bit, “Mmmh,” he hummed, taking in the flavour and texture of the food, that Yunho had prepared. Sure, maybe the meal was a little on the basic side, and he may have been pretty sure that a lot of it had come straight out of a packet, but that didn’t mean it was terrible. “I don’t know,” He nodded, taking a second bite, “This is pretty good, Yunho… Are you _sure_ you’re not a professional?” He questioned, lips quirking up into an almost playful smile.

“Har har, don’t tease me, Changmin. I know it’s not as good as something you’d make.” Yunho bumped their shoulders together.

“Maybe not,” Changmin just shrugged, “But that’s just because I’ve had more practice…” He trailed off, an idea popping into his head as he spoke. It was something slightly stupid, and definitely out of character. Still the more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself that it was a good idea. Pushing down his nerves and following his heart instead: “How about we make Christmas dinner together? For the kids of course… um unless you’re busy, or have other plans, or the kids are… else where?”

He was definitely rambling, something that was made more obvious by the way Yunho bumped their shoulders together again, grinning stupidly and said: “That would be lovely, Changmin. The three of us normally have quite a quiet and relaxed day on Christmas, so it would be wonderful for you to join us.”

“Really?” Changmin was having a hard time being convinced by Yunho’s words.

“Yeah, really! But only if you want to, of course… it’s just, I know Christmas isn’t something you usually celebrate, and I wouldn’t want you to go against your own tradition, or make you feel as if you were forced into a situation, you didn’t care about.”

Letting out a stupidly soft chuckle, Changmin shook his head slightly, “It’s okay, I wouldn’t have suggested it, if I really wasn’t comfortable with it. Besides, I don’t know… maybe it will be fun, to actually celebrate for once — to actually spend time with people over the holiday.”

Yunho nodded, “Yeah, I think you’re right.” 

“Changmin…” their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Younghee speaking. She had the same quizzical look from before, mouth stuffed with food as she talked.

“Yes, Younghee?” Changmin asked, turning his attention away from Yunho, for the time being.

“What is your job?” She asked, seemingly out of the blue.

“I’m a writer!” Changmin replied, happy to answer the curious child’s question. 

“Oh, cool… so you write stories?”

“No, sweetie, Changmin writes for a news paper,” Yunho replied kindly, happy to explain the differences, “That’s why he’s in the city at the moment.”

In front of them, Younghee pouted, “Thats a bit boring,” She stated, “I wanted to hear a story that Changmin wrote.”

Changmin couldn’t help but chuckle at what she’d said, “I can write you a story if you want?” He offered, smiling harder when her face was once again lit up in a big smile.

“You can!”

“Of course, before I got into writing for a newspaper, I wanted to be a story book writer!” He admitted, “So how about, I write you something for a Christmas present?”

The sound of joy that left both children’s mouths, was enough to make Changmin completely reconsider what line of work he should be pouring all his energy into — watching how the mere idea of a story, could brighten someone’s day so easily.

“Thank you, that’s a really wonderful gift, Changmin.” Yunho mumbled to his side, moving slightly so that their legs were pressed together firmly under the table.

Changmin just smiled back, heart once again growing warm.

It wasn’t long after that, for food to be finished: plates cleared and children dismissed from where they were currently sat.

“Not too long before bed now, you two.” Yunho warned, as his children once again made themselves comfortable in front of the TV — ignoring there cries of disappointment, as he continued, “Don’t forget, Santa is arriving tonight, and he’ll only be able to give you your gifts if you’re fast asleep!” The disappointment soon turned to squeals of excitement, the two children bouncing slightly with anticipation for Christmas Day.

In the end, they went to sleep a grand total of half an hour, after Yunho’s warning. The two only being able to get though one more episode of their favourite TV show, before Jiwoo started to yawn. Large round eyes growing tired and beginning to slip shut. Then, it wasn’t at all long, before Younghee followed suit, rubbing at her own face, before announcing that she was going to bed.

“Thats a good idea,” Yunho agreed. He smiled warmly at them, scooping his youngest into his arms, and allowing Younghee to lead him up the stairs by the hand. “I’ll be around ten minuets,” He called out to Changmin, turning briefly in his direction, before his attention was once again stolen by his children.

Changmin only let out a hum of acknowledgement, feeling strangely content, as he watched the family interact. It was beautiful, it was pure — love, trust, their strong family bond clear for all to see. Changmin felt lucky being even just a very small part of it, throughout the evening.

As promised, Yunho returned shortly, this time taking a detour through the kitchen, and reemerging with two wine glasses in hand. “Drink?” He asked, motioning to the alcohol, before making himself comfortable on the seat next to Changmin.

They were back in the living room, bathed in the warm artificial light of a lamp, and surrounded by the soft throws and comfortable pillows, that littered the room.

“I’d love one.” Changmin agreed, accepting the glass easily, and taking a sip.

A moment of silence passed between them.

“So…” Yunho started, eyes flicking down towards the drink in his hands, before once again looking towards Changmin.

“So…” Changmin mirrored his statement.

“I imagine you have a few questions…”

“Yeah,” Changmin let out a laugh, “you could say that.”

Nodding, a quiet chuckle escaped Yunho’s lips, “Well, feel free to ask away. I’ll try and answer as much as I can.”

Changmin thought about this for a moment, so much had happed in the last few hours, that he didn’t even know were to begin?

“So, kids?” He ended up stating somewhat lamely — earning a small snort out of Yunho, followed by a nod of his head.

“Yeah, kids.”

“For how long?” Changmin blurted out before wincing slightly and trying to back track, “No, I mean nine years, obviously. Sorry, that was a stupid question.”

“Actually,” Yunho cleared his throat, shifting himself slightly in his seated position, “seven years. We adopted Younghee when she was two years old, and Jiwoo when he was just a few months.”

“Adopted?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“We…?” Changmin chanced, guessing that _this_ would probably be the sore topic.

“Yes,” Yunho nodded, “we — me and my husband.” He finished, glancing away once more.

Staying quiet, Changmin waited for Yunho to continue. He didn’t know the whole story yet, so there was no point getting angry. Besides, whatever had happened, was obviously difficult for Yunho — Changmin didn’t want to push him on such a sensitive matter.

“I, I’m… he…” Yunho swallowed thickly, eyes flicking up for the briefest of moments, “He passed away.”

“Oh,” Changmin hadn’t realised that he’d gasped out loud, until Yunho’s eyes had met his once again. This time to reassure him — comfort Changmin on something he himself, had had to live through. “Yunho, I’m so sorry, I hadn’t realised. I… god, I’m so sorry.” He rambled, feeling rather lost for words.

“Thank you, but it’s fine.” He paused, “Well, I mean, it’s not fine. I still miss him. Everyday, everyday I miss him. God Changmin, sometimes I miss him so much, that it’s almost too hard to bare.” He shook his head as a wave of longing washed through him. “Seojun,” His voice broke slightly, “Seojun passed away four years ago.” He continued to explain, “He got sick, really sick really fast, during the fall months. We thought he had more time, we thought he’d make it through to the new year but…”

“But?” Changmin coxed, already knowing how this sentence would end.

“Well,” Yunho sighed, “In the end he didn’t make it to Christmas.”

Silence once more enveloped the room, a realisation quickly dawning on Changmin: “Yesterday?” He questioned.

Yunho nodded, almost sheepishly, “Yeah,” He confirmed, “I’m sorry, you’re not… I’m not using you just because you’re here.” He stated, “I haven’t got some weird dead husband complex, and you’re not a rebound. I mean, it's been four years… it’s not like I haven’t slept with anyone since…” He trailed off, “I mean, I guess it doesn’t normally mean much. Doesn’t mean _this_ much.” He ran a hand down Changmin’s arm, “Changmin, I know this is stupid, and I’ve probably caused you way more stress then you ever deserve, but,” He continued, “you really do mean a lot to me. And I don’t want you to think that that night, was anything other than what it was… if that makes sense?”

It did, kind of, but still, Changmin couldn’t help but ask: “And, what did last night mean?” Just to be sure that they were on the same page.

“Last night,” Yunho smiled, “Last night, meant a lot to me. It was two people that care about each other, being there for one another. Changmin, I wasn’t lying when I said I’d wanted you since the first day we met… I’m just sorry that I didn’t act on my feeling sooner… or at a better time.”

Changmin nodded, “I get it, I get you.” He agreed, placing his hand against Yunho’s leg “And, for what is worth, as much as I was worried that sleeping with you, when you were obviously upset wasn’t the best plan — once I saw how relaxed, and happy you became, I couldn’t find it in me to regret it.”

There was a pause, in which time Yunho’s gaze became impossibly fond, mouth curving into an almost watery smile.

“But, I have to ask,” Changmin continued, “why didn’t you tell me before now?”

Looking away, Yunho, shook his head at himself: “Because I was scared, and I didn’t know how to bring it up and I guess in some backwards way, I was trying to protect my family, and myself and, you… I’m sorry, Changmin, I should have said something, I should have explained the situation.”

“Its okay,” Changmin assured, “Thank you for allowing me to find out now.”

“I assume, you still want a bit of an explanation for yesterday?” He smiled, expression open as he waited for Changmin to reply.

“If it’s not too difficult.” Changmin agreed.

Nodding, Yunho took a deep breath: “Seojun’s parents are lovely people,” He began, “They’ve been a big help to me and the family over the past four years, being there for us, and helping out whenever I needed an extra pair of hands. We always visit them on the anniversary… so together, we can pay our respects.’ He paused, looking down at were Changmin’s hand was still resting on his leg. “We spend the day together, and then the kids always stay the night. It’s just so I can have a break — so I can take some time away form it all.” He explained, “However, this night, instead of just getting home and crashing out like I usually do, I was left feeling restless and guilty, and anxious. You see, for the first time in four years, I had someone else on my mind, and I felt bad about that, like I didn’t deserve to heal, or move on…”

He looked up meeting Changmin’s eyes, “But no matter what I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Wondering what you were doing, or if you were still awake, that in the end, against my own better judgement, I decided I had to go and see you.” He nodded, more to himself than anyone, “My mind was all over the place, as I’m sure you could tell, and I just needed to feel something — you were the only person I wanted to turn to. And then this morning, I got a call from his parents saying that both the kids were having a little wobbly, and were refusing to go to school before they saw me, I didn’t even get time to reply to Younghee’s text before I had to leave… I really should have told you.”

Now everything made a lot more sense, Yunho’s limited time during the day, him always being busy on weekends, the times he’d have to shoot off quickly — seemingly because of a phone call alone. He had kids, he had responsibilities that Changmin couldn’t even begin to understand.

“It’s okay.” Changmin assured once again, understanding the situation a lot better by this point, “Like I said, I don’t regret it, and besides, as sorry as I am, that you’ve been through so much, and tried to keep it all to yourself, I’m kinda relieved that is wasn’t what I thought.”

Now it was Yunho’s turn to ask the question. “And what had you thought?”

“Well,” Changmin scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, “After seeing the text, I kinda assumed that I had helped you cheat on someone…”

“Oh, Changmin,” Yunho’s voice was full of sympathy, “I can see why you’d think that, god, and after what you’ve told me.” He ran a hand over his face, “Just know that I would never cheat on someone.” He finished.

“I know that, now.” Changmin agreed, linking their hands together. There was another moment of quiet, in which Changmin searched for something more to say. In the end he settled on: “Your kids are pretty great, by the way. And I don’t just say that about just anyone’s children, so you should take that as a compliment.”

Yunho laughed, nodding his head while his smile once again became more genuine, “They are great, they really are.” He agreed, “Ah, they’ve grown up so fast, too fast really.” He sighed, “Younghee in particular has had to become so strong over the past four years. They know what happened, or at least they know as much as children their age can understand.”

“I try to be strong for them, of course… but it always gets a little tougher around this time of year. As I’m sure you can understand… It hurts, seeing everyone celebrate, when the one person you want isn’t there.”

And that was it. Yunho putting everything Changmin had been feeling about this time of year, about Hun and his wedding, and finding a strange solace in Yunho that he was never expecting, into words. Somehow, vocalising exactly what he was feeling. 

“Yeah,” Changmin hated the way his voice shook as he spoke, emotions hitting him square in the chest, “it really does hurt…” He let out a bitter chuckle, “God, look at us,” He scoffed, taking in an equally shaky breath, “Just a couple of heart broken idiots, drinking wine and being sad while everyone around us is having fun.”

“It is pretty pathetic,” Yunho replied, letting out his own watery chuckle, lips twisting into a smile at the pitiful picture they painted. “But maybe, if you’d have me, we could be heart broken idiots together?”

The question did something funny to Changmin’s heart, squeezing it tightly and making it pick up pace, “I’d like that a lot.” He agreed, placing his hardly touched wine down, and shuffling into Yunho’s personal space.

He reached out, carefully cupping the other man’s face with his hand, and coxing him forward. However, in the end, it was Yunho, who closed the final few inches between them — pressing his soft lips to Changmin’s in a delicate, warm kiss.

Like the last night, Changmin found his eyes fluttering shut, heart still beating wildly under his ribcage. Unlike last night, it didn’t lead to anything more. Both men too emotionally spent, and hyper aware that they weren’t alone in the house, to take things further.

And in all honesty, this, right now, was all Changmin really needed. Soft touches and tender words. Hearts poured out, and scars exposed for only each others eyes to see.

They both had an understanding of one another, that neither had felt in a long time. They knew of the heartache that Christmas could bring, understood what it was like to try and move on, when the mere thought of it seemed impossible. It didn’t matter if no one else they knew understood, because _they_ understood. They knew. And for the first time, they both had someone to share it with.

Changmin left that night with another kiss on the lips, and the promise to see them all again on Christmas Day.

For the first time in who knows how long, he found himself genuinely looking forward to the celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, Yunho's secret is revealed!! I'm sorry for making you all wait so long for an explanation~~
> 
> Thank you for reading so far, we're almost at the end now, so I hope you continue to enjoy <33


	11. Christmas Day

Christmas Day.

The longest day of Changmin’s year. The most stress inducing, mind numbing, teeth grinding holiday that he had to go through.

However, not this time.

Because this time, when Changmin was rudely awaken by the local radio station blasting out annoying and repetitive Christmas songs, hefound he really didn’t mind, smiling to himself as he hummed along.

He’d spent the remainder of yesterday evening getting ready for the big day and getting stuck into writing.

Apart from, this writing wasn’t for the article. This time it was for the story he’d promised to create Younghee and Jiwoo.

He wanted it to be enjoyable, something fun that they’d be able to read time and time again. Not too complicated, but also not too simplistic, and interesting enough to ensure neither would get bored while reading.

Writing a story, was completely different to what Changmin had been working on over the last month. In fact, it was completely different to what he’d been doing for the last few years, and in honestly, Changmin had forgotten just how fun it was to write fiction. Relishing in the opportunity to put his mind to something that was completely nonfactual, and work to create interesting and unique Characters.

The Change of pace, was exactly what he needed — allowing him to continue doing something he loved while also taking a break from his job.

He wrote swiftly, and without difficulty, wrapping up his short story in quick succession, and giving himself plenty of time to get ready for the days events. There were a few things he’d promised to pick up form the store — a few things that they’d need for the dinner they had planned. And as Changmin made his way over to the door, adorned in his usual coat and scarf, a strong sense of excitement welled up inside.

Because, truth be told, he really was excited. Excited despite the fact that it was Christmas, despite the fact that he had agreed to celebrate it, despite the truth behind Yunho’s behaviour.

He still found it kinda crazy, that this whole time, Yunho had been a single father, and yet, here he was, being invited over for Christmas dinner, just because, over the last few weeks, Yunho had taken a bit of a shining to the sad, Christmas hating fool. And, vice versa, of course.

Unlike the evening before, Changmin was in a much better mood as he made his way down the street — allowing himself to really take in some of the more unfamiliar roads, that lead to Yunho’s place.

On his way, he nipped into the first 24hour convince store that he came across, smiling brightly at the unfortunate staff that had to work there while the rest of the country took the day off.

“Have a good Christmas, Sir.” The cashier smiled, as she handed over his change.

“You too,” Changmin couldn’t stop himself from beaming back, “I hope you get a good break after this!” He finished, watching as a smile appeared on the cashier’s face, and she bent her head in a polite bow.

“Thank you, Sir.”

With a fresh bounce in his step, he continued onward, down the street, and towards Yunho’s house.

The streets of Gwangju were quiet, on Christmas Day. Most locals tucked away in the comfort of their own homes, most stores closed. The once jam-packed roads were less busy, and the usually crowded streets almost empty. It was peaceful, and Changmin allowed himself to enjoy the quiet — just the fresh air, and the last remnants of snow to keep him company.

Restaurants would no doubt be getting busier come the evening, people going out and celebrating with friends and family alike. However, right now at the time of 11:30 a.m., there were only a few people braving the streets.

As with the evening before, it really didn’t take long before Changmin was once again reaching Yunho’s place, knocking on the door and attempting to suppress the smile on his face, while he waited for someone to answer.

There was a noise from inside, a set of feet running to meet him, before the door was being yanked open to once again reveal Younghee.

The little girl grinned at him. She was dressed in a sweet Christmas dress, a pair of glittery reindeer antlers perched on top of her head. “Changmin!” She cried, jumping up and down on the stop, before reaching for his hand and puling him in to the house, “Did you bring my story?” She demanded, not giving him much time to get in and remove his coat, scarf, and shoes, before she was once again taking hold of his hand and dragging him down the hallway.

“Now now, Younghee, give Changminnie some space, he’s only just arrived.” Yunho chuckled, appearing in the doorway of the living room and smiling softly at both his daughter the new arrival.

“Oh sorry!” Younghee giggled, suddenly becoming shy, and running back over to where her brother was playing with a new toy on the floor.

“Hi,” Yunho greeted, turning his attention to Changmin, and pulling him, in for a quick kiss — short, and out of sight from his now distracted kids, but enough to flood Changmin’s chest with a new flow of warmth.

“Hi,” He whispered back, smiling wide as they pulled apart.

“Sorry, about Younghee, she’s just very excited.” He laughed, leading Changmin into the living room, and quickly pouring him a glass of wine (it was Christmas, he could definitely start drinking at midday).

“You don’t have to apologise,” Changmin assured, leaning down to ruffle Younghee’s hair, while she pouted towards them on the carpet, “I’m looking forward to giving you your present too.” He smiled, watching as both the children exchanged wide eyed looks.

“Okay,” Yunho chuckled, “But I think that will have to wait till after lunch now, we should probably get cooking before these two become hangry.” He added that last part as a joke, laughing when his daughter stuck her tongue out, and son went back to whatever game he had been playing prior to the interruption.

“I think that’s a very good idea.” Changmin agreed, grabbing his bag and the ingredients inside it, before making his way in to the kitchen.

Together, they got to work, preparing the ingredients and putting together the different elements of the meal. They had discussed what they wanted to make that morning, quickly coming to the conclusion that a buffet of assorted foods would probably be the best idea.

Changmin did a lot of the technical work — putting himself in control of flavour, and getting the perfect finish.

He let Yunho do most of the prep, after all, there wasn’t _much_ that could go wrong there.

As it turned out, years of cooking for his family meant that despite his concerns, Yunho wasn’t actually completely helpless in a kitchen setting. Being able to get on with the tasks Changmin set him with little to no difficulty.

They made a good team, and after what felt like no time at all, several different dishes, that may have once taken a few hours to finish, were complete and ready to serve. 

Just like last night, the two of them set the table together (Changmin smiling slightly when he realised just how used to this routine he could become), before the kids were once again called to join them.

There was a sound of the TV being paused — whatever Christmas film they were watching obviously being too important to leave play in the background, quickly followed by the patter of small feet.

“Foood!” Jiwoo cried as he scampered towards the table — Yunho catching him mid run, in order to scoop him up and fly him over to the sink.

“Lets make sure we all wash our hands first.” He singsonged, holding Jiwoo, while he splashed his hands in the bubbly water. “You too, Younghee — don’t think I can’t see you.” He laughed, glancing over his shoulder to see his daughter pouting dramatically.

“ _Daddy_ ,” She whined, stomping over to the sink, “you’re embarrassing me!”

“Aw don’t be embarrassed,” Changmin cooed, walking over to join the family, “It’s important to have clean hands before eating.” He explained, waiting his turn, as the two kids washed up, and headed back to the table.

“Look at you,” Yunho whispered, bumping there shoulders together in an almost teasing manner, “being such a good example to the kids. So well behaved, Changminnie!” He laughed, grin only getting wider, when Changmin replied by flicking a bit of water at him — and in turn, breaking the aforementioned good example.

“Oh, I’ll show you well behaved.” He stated, glancing back towards the table to make sure neither of the kids were paying attention (they weren’t, both too busy pilling their plates high with food), before darting in for a short kiss.

“Rebel!” Yunho mock gasped, cheeks staining slightly pink nonetheless.

“Yeah, but you like it.”

“It’s true, I do.”

Together, they made their way back to the table, sliding into their seats from the day before, and joining the kids in selecting what they wanted to eat, from the many dishes available.

“Happy Christmas everyone!” Yunho smiled, raising his glass in toast and waiting for the others to join him.

So, in went another wine glass, quickly followed by two brightly colour plastic cups — clinking together with the odd sound of glass against glass, against plastic.

They each took a drink, Changmin chuckling as Younghee downed her glass of juice in one go, and Jiwoo just looked slightly lost.

“Wow, now Younghee, might want to slow down there!” Yunho let out a snort, as his daughter asked for her glass to be refilled, “You don’t want to fill up on juice before eating anything.” He explained as he daughter just giggled.

“But daddy,” She argued, “I’m just trying to be like you!”

Now Changmin couldn’t help but laugh openly, looking to Yunho with mirth in his eyes, “Do you usually take shots around your kids?” He joked, watching as Yunho shook his head, laughing hard.

“Not exactly…” he trailed off.

“One shot! Daddy do the one shot!” Jiwoo cried from his seat, bouncing slightly in anticipation.

“No,” Yunho shook his head.

“Please daddy _please_!” Younghee joined in with the begging, the combination on the two kids, slowly but surely breaking down any discipline Yunho was trying to set

“Fine,” he sighed, shaking his head slightly but unable to hide the fond smile that still lingered on his lips, “Its nothing impressive,” He turned to face Changmin, reaching across the table as he did so, in order to pour himself a large glass of water, “I used to always down my drinks in one go.” He explained, “And now my _kids,”_ He sent an over-exaggerated glare in their direction, “always make me do it when we have guests round.” 

“Oh,” Changmin snorted, covering his mouth with his hand, “well, I’d hate to be the one to break tradition.” He grinned, laughing even harder when Yunho’s narrow eyes were turned on him.

“Whatever you say,” And with that, he was raising the glass to his lips, and chugging the water in one go.

Despite what Yunho had said, it kind of was impressive — not a single drop of water being split as it disappeared from the glass in a matter of seconds. Both kids cheered, and Changmin started to clap as Yunho slammed the glass down with an audible ‘ah’.

“Well, I have to say: that’s some party trick, Yunho. I can see why these two always make you do it.”

“Hey!” Yunho sounded almost offended at what Changmin had said, “I’ll have you know this is a skill, not just some ‘party trick’.”

“Whatever you say…” Changmin quirked his lips, repeating the same phrase, that Yunho had used moments ago.

They continued with the meal after that, eating and chatting comfortably together. The atmosphere was pleasant, and Changmin couldn’t help but feel completely at home — as if this was what he’d usually be doing on a Christmas afternoon.

“What’s Christmas like where you live?” Younghee asked later on, while digging into a slice of Christmas cake.

“Christmas in Seoul is…” Changmin started, trailing off slightly as he tried to think about the city, and how people would usually celebrate. After all, it wasn’t really something he’d payed much attention to, in the past. “Christmas in Seoul is bright.” He settled on, “All the shops get dressed up, and the streets are alight with beautiful decorations. It can get a bit crowded,” He admitted, laughing at the understatement, “but thats not necessarily a bad thing.” 

“Wow,” Younghee gasped, eyes sparking at the thought of the big city, “daddy, can we please go to Seoul for Christmas, I want to see it.” She pleaded, turning her big puppy dogs eyes on Yunho.

“Maybe one day,” Yunho just laughed, “We could always go when you two are a bit older.”

“We’re old enough now, I don’t want to wait.” Younghee giggled, “I want to stay with Changmin!”

“Oh, well,” Yunho spluttered a little, face heating up slightly at his daughters sudden outburst.

“You’d all be welcome anytime.” Changmin assured, subtly placing a reassuring hand against Yunho’s knee as he smiled at both of the kids.

Younghee let out a whoop, smiling widely, while Jiwoo just continued to eat, not at all interested in this line of conversation.

They cleared the table, soon after that, both children helping to put a few things away before escaping to the living room. Yunho didn’t stop them, smiling fondly over his shoulder as they failed spectacularly, at sneaking away. “Kids,” He laughed fondly, shaking his head at the snickers that could be heard heading down the corridor.

“They’re wonderful.” Changmin agreed, putting the last few plates away, before wandering over to where Yunho was finishing with the cutlery

“ _You’re_ wonderful,” Yunho replied without any thought, leaning forward and into a kiss, “thank you for joining us today.”

Changmin didn’t reply, chest impossibly tight as a smile once again formed on his face. Instead, he inched himself into Yunho space, looping his arms around the his waist and indulging in another kiss — hoping his actions would speak louder than words, in this situation.

It seemed to work, and as they pulled apart once more, Yunho’s expression reflected the same warmth that Changmin was feeling.

Rather reluctantly, they let one another go, hands untangling and gazes darting away as they heard a quiet patter of feet approach.

It was Jiwoo, appearing at the doorway with a shy smile — toy from before grasped tightly in his chubby fists: “Daddy…?” He asked, wandering in and tugging gently at the side of Yunho’s jeans.

“Yes, darling?” Yunho replied, quickly dropping down to his level, and redirecting all attention towards him.

“Can we go somewhere?” The six year old questioned, shuffling his feet slightly, and gazing at Yunho with large pleading eyes.

“Right now?” Yunho couldn’t help but laugh when his child nodded eagerly, “Well, I suppose I don’t see why not… do you have anywhere in mind?”

“Really?” Jiwoo squealed, “I want to go to the park!”

“Okay, okay, that can probably be arranged… but have you checked to see if your sister wants to go first. It would be really kind of you if you asked her to come with us.”

“Oh yeah!” Jiwoo exclaimed, shooting out of the room at a surprisingly fast speed, and calling out to his sister as he did so.

“You don’t mind do you?” Yunho checked with Changmin as soon as his little one was out of sight.

Changmin smiled, shaking his head, “Of course not—”

Before he could say anything else, Jiwoo was once again rushing into the room, “She said yes! She wants to go to the park too. Can we daddy? Can we please go to the park?”

“Well as long as its a yes from both of you. Come on, let’s get your coats on.” With that, Yunho was being led out of the room by a very excitable Jiwoo.

Younghee was already waiting in the hallway, coat half on as she struggled to stamp her feet into shoes, “Come on slowpokes!” She chided, grinning cheekily up at the two, sluggish, adults.

“Don’t forget your gloves and scarf,” Yunho called back, kneeling down to help his youngest into his outer wear.

By this point, Changmin had already slipped into his shoes and coat, fastening the scarf around his neck, before spotting Younghee’s to the side, and making sure to pass it over, “Here you go,” He smiled, watching as he snatched the wooly garment happily away, and wrapped it securely around herself.

“Thank you!” She beamed at him, eyes curving with happiness. Changmin felt his heart melt a little.

“You are very welcome.”

As a group, they set off. Younghee walking ahead as their leader, Changmin just behind her, and Yunho and Jiwoo taking up the end.

It was a fresh Christmas Day, white mist leaving their lips in miniature clouds, and noses soon turning red. Thankfully, it was quite a still day — only a gentle breeze blowing around them, meaning the cold wouldn’t become too unbearable.

“The park’s not too far,” Yunho explained as Younghee rounded a corner — skipping happily down the sidewalk. “It’s our local one. It’s got a small play area and a couple of benches, there might even be a bit of snow still hanging around.”

Sure enough, less than two minutes later, the group of four rounded yet another street corner, and came face to face with the entrance of the small park.

“We’re here!” Jiwoo cried, letting go of his fathers hand, and racing excitedly after his sister.

“Jiwoo, wait for me!” Younghee called, as the younger child managed to take over her — pace speeding up significantly.

Watching them both run off, Yunho let out a laugh “God, they’re so competitive…” He stated, shaking his head slightly.

“Hmm, and _I wonder who_ they got _that_ from…?” Changmin teased back, bumping their shoulders together as they too, entered the park. 

“Hey, I think you’ll find it’s _passion_ they got from me…”

“Oh yeah? You just keep telling yourself there’s a difference.” He smirked, squeezing Yunho briefly on the hand, before following after the kids.

From behind him, he heard a loud gasp, “They are most certainly different!” Yunho cried in over-exaggerated outrage — smile clear in his words, as he rushed in after them.

***

They spent a grand total of two hours in the park — just the four of them, completely undisturbed by the rest of the city, left to play for as long as they wanted to.

And play, they did. Changmin found himself running around after the children: helping Younghee on the monkey bars, Jiwoo on the slide, squeezing into tunnels and even having a short swing himself.

It was fun, he felt carefree, calm, happy. Letting himself loose for a few hours, and allowing himself to actually enjoy it.

In the end, Jiwoo getting too cold, had been their reason for calling it a day on the park adventure. Pink nose dribbling from the frosty air and fingers going numb despite his mittens.

“I think it’s time to go home now, don’t you two lovelies agree?” Yunho asked, watching as Jiwoo started to loose interest in the games they were playing.

“No, not yet!” Younghee answered, scampering up the slide and perching herself at the top.

“Come one sweetie, Jiwoo’s getting chilly — let’s go home and have a hot chocolate.”

For a moment, that looked as if it was going to convince her, but still, the little girl shook her head folding her arms in defiance.

“How about,” Changmin suggested, speaking up when Yunho let out a sigh, “if we go home now, I can finally give you your story?” He offered, watching as Younghee’s face once again lit up in interest. This time succeeding to make her slide herself down, to meet them.

“Yes please!” She answered, nodding enthusiastically, as she latched onto Changmin’s hand.

The walk home was short, the group of four stomping off the slush from their shoes, before heading into the warmth.

Coats were shed, and shoes tucked away before scarfs and gloves were removed as well.

“Hey, you and daddy have the same scarf!” Younghee exclaimed as he watched Changmin hang the material next to his coat.

The two men shared a look, suppressing a bubble of laughter before turning back to Younghee, “I guess, we do.” Changmin nodded in agreement.

“Now, how about you two get into your snuggly pyjamas, and once you're down, we can have hot chocolate and story time.”

“Okay,” both children chorused, bounding loudly up the stairs and off to their bedrooms.

Sharing one last soft smile, the two of them walked back into the kitchen, “Hot chocolate for you as well?” Yunho offered, hesitating by the cupboard with two mugs in each hand.

“That would be wonderful.” Changmin agreed.

At hearing his answer, Yunho smirked slightly: “Oh yeah?” He began, glimmer of mischief in his eye, “So, you’re no longer too boring for a ‘gimmicky drink’?” He joked, getting out the hot chocolate powder, as well as whipped cream, marshmallows, and miniature candy canes.

“ _Please_ Yunho,” Changmin drawled, shaking his head slightly, “you showed me the wonders of Christmas drinks, ages ago. I think I can handle this.”

Yunho grinned, letting out a loud laugh, “Look at you, you’re practically a changed man.”

“You know what? I Think I am!”

“You really are,” Yunho’s voice took on a more series tone, “You seem different, than from when we first met. Lighter, if that makes sense.”

“It does make sense.” In fact, it made prefect sense. Changmin had been noticing it too. His change in attitude, change in mood — happiness growing, the pressures he’d felt at the beginning of the month slowly, but surely melting away, like the snow on the streets.

It was around five minutes later, that there was once again a loud stampede of feet, both Younghee and Jiwoo launching into the kitchen, “Story time!” Jiwoo called, happily accepting a mug of hot chocolate, before rushing into the living room. Younghee was close behind him, taking a big gulp from her drink, before following him in.

“Save enough space for us on the sofa, you two.” Yunho jested, handing Changmin a mug, before taking the final one.

On their way into the living room, Changmin made sure to grab the story from his bag. It wasn’t much, a few pages of a4 stapled together to create a small book, but he hoped they’d still like it. After all, he’d been working with limited materials.

“Right, is everyone ready?” He asked, squeezing his way in beside Yunho, who had Jiwoo cuddled up on his lap, and Younghee sitting to the side.

“I believe so.” Yunho replied.

“No wait,” Jiwoo shook his head, “daddy read it please!”

“Yeah you do the best voices.” Younghee joined in, bouncing slightly where she sat.

Letting out a laugh, Yunho shook his head: “Come on you two, Changmin wrote this, he should be allowed to read it.” All he received in return, was two pouting faces.

Now it was Changmin’s time to chuckle, “You know what?” He started, already pressing the book into Yunho’s open hands, “I’d quite like to hear you read it as well.”

“Are you sure?” Yunho didn’t sound so convinced, ignoring the way his children let out a cheer of agreement, and turning his attention to Changmin.

“Yeah, I’m completely sure. It’ll be nice to hear it from another persons perspective.”

With one last reassuring smile, Yunho took the book, and turned to page one. “The adventures of the snow people — ”

Around half an hour passed, and by the time the story was coming to its end, Changmin couldn’t help but agree with the kids: Yunho really was the best narrator. He really went all out. Giving each Character their own voice, that somehow matched their personalities perfectly. Not only that, but he got completely wrapped up in the book, gasping at the difficulties they had to face, laughing at the more ridiculous parts, and smiling widely at the happy ending.

It was refreshing, to see his work through the eyes of someone else. A new point of view, a new way of looking. It was easy to undermine the progress made as a writer, easy to put it down as a fluke, but hearing someone else read it, watching the words flow easily of the tongue, allowed Changmin to see it clearly for what it was: A short story. A fun, well written short story that he’d made specifically for the two children, that were sat, smiles blooming on their faces, once the story had reached its conclusion.

“So every winter, when the first snow starts to fall, look out for all snow people, big or small. They may have traveled far to be here, after all.” Yunho finished the last sentence, closing the paper book with a smile.

“Wow,” Jiwoo was the first to speak, voice coming out in hushed amazement. “That was so cool!” He stated, jumping off his father’s lap in order to hop around excitedly.

“This is my new favourite story, thank you so much Changminnie.” Younghee clapped her hands together, taking the book from Yunho in order to clutch it close to her chest.

“You’re very welcome, I’m glad you both enjoyed it.” Changmin smiled in return, face lighting up at their reactions.

“That really was a great story.” Yunho joined in the praise, smiling sweetly at him, while he reached out to give his hand a squeeze.

“Thank you,” Changmin replied, bashful smile slipping onto his face, as Yunho continued to gaze at him. “Your kids are right, by the way — you reading it, made the story ten times better.”

“Well,” Now it was Yunho’s time to look almost shy, “I guess you could say I’ve had a lot of practice.”

The room had been vacated by the children by this point. Younghee wanting to go and place the book on the bookshelf, and Jiwoo off in search for the toy he had been paying with that morning.

Seeing this as their chance, Yunho began to lean forward, brushing his fingers against Changmin’s cheek, before moving in for a kiss. Something Changmin was all too happy to reciprocate.

Their faces were inches apart, lips almost touching when: “Daddy, what’s for dinner?” Younghee burst into the room.

Pulling apart with haste, Yunho let out a rather breathless laugh, shooting an equally pink Changmin an apologetic smile, before standing up, “Well, we have a lot of stuff leftover, so we could always have a kinda snacky tea, if you want?”

Replies of: “Yes please, I’m so hungry,” And “Me too, me too.” Followed Yunho out the room. Changmin just let out a laugh, shaking his head slightly and willing the blush on his cheeks to go down.

This time around, they ate in front of the television, both kids finding something fun to watch, as they filled up on snack and leftovers.

It was a quiet evening, the four of them enjoying a bit of television, before the excitement of the day caught up with Younghee and Jiwoo, and they begin to yawn.

“Is it time for bed, you two?” Yunho asked, watching as Jiwoo struggled to keep his eyes open, and Younghee let out another big yawn.

“No,” They both shook their heads, continuing to watch the program that was on, with little to no attention.

Sure enough, less than five minutes passed before Jiwoo had completely closed his eyes, and Younghee began to blink slowly, “Okay,” she yawned once more, “maybe it’s time for bed now.” 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Yunho chuckled, scooping a child into each arm, and walking them up to their bedrooms once more.

“Good night Changmin, thank you again for our present,” Younghee waved, smiling sleepily at him.

“Sleep well,” Changmin whispered back, in order not to wake the dozing Jiwoo.

It didn’t take long, before Yunho was once again making his way down stairs, and dropping himself down onto the sofa, next to Changmin. “They’re already fast a sleep.” He chuckled, letting out a yawn of his own.

“Well, they’ve had a busy day.” Changmin sympathised.

“Yeah,” Yunho agreed, “thank you, by the way, Changmin. Having you here, made today extra special — for all of us.”

“Like wise,” There was a pause, the two men looking at each other with the same tenderness that had been resting inside them for a while now. “Oh,” Changmin sounded, a realisation coming into his head as he grabbed for his bag once more. “this is for you.” He smiled, reaching in and pulling out the gift he had brought for Yunho. He had almost forgotten it, mind wrapped up with the the activities of the day, that it completely slipped his mind.

“But I haven’t gotten you anything!” Yunho sounded slightly disappointed as he took the gift, looking at Changmin with a sorry expression.

“It’s fine.” Changmin assured, “This isn’t really about Christmas, count it as a thank you — from me to you. For everything you’ve helped me with over this month.”

In front of him, Yunho began to unwrap the present, gently tearing the paper open, and pulling out the gift inside.

“Changmin!” He couldn’t help but laugh, when he saw what it was, pulling out a long, woollen scarf, and holding it out in front of him.

“I thought, you might be needing a replacement.” Changmin shrugged, smiling brightly at Yunho’s reaction.

The scarf was similar, to the one Changmin had acquired — slightly different in colour and patten, but similar nonetheless. As soon as Changmin saw it, he knew he had to buy it.

“It’s perfect,” Yunho Chuckled, folding it back up, before resting it on the table, “Thank you, Changmin.” Leaning forward, he pulled Changmin in for a hug, pressing a kiss again his cheek to show his gratitude.

“You’re welcome.”

The conversation began to die down. Changmin seeing this as his opportunity to bring up, what they should probably have discussed a while ago: “Can we talk about, us?” He asked, motioning between the both of them.

“Us?” Yunho repeated.

“Yeah, its just…” He hesitated, “It’s all well and good us admitting that we like each other, or that we don’t want things to end… but, I would be lying if I didn’t want to know what we _are_ , if that makes sense…” He let out a laugh, “Look, what I’m trying to say is, I would like to be in a relationship with you — like not just dates but the other stuff, the boring stuff. I want to fall asleep on face time with you, or complain about work assignment, or listen to you ramble about something for hours.” He explained, “I want to cook meals for you and your family, or go to your favourite places or show you around Seoul. I want to introduce you to others as my parter, my boyfriend.”

His ramblings were halted by the press of Yunho’s lips against his — sharing their first kiss of the evening.

Yunho was grinning, once he pulled away, lips stretched, and blush high on his cheeks, “I want the same thing,” he agreed, nodding enthusiastically, “I want all of that, and I’d like to be in a relationship with you too, Changmin.”

“I mean, you’ve already won over the kids.” He started before realising what he’d said, “And I don’t,” he pulled away slightly, wanting to look Changmin in the eye, “being in a relationship with me, doesn’t mean I’m going to expect you to step in and be a dad to my kids, because it’s not… they wouldn’t want that — but just the way you’ve reacted to this whole situation. You’ve been so open minded, and kind to them, and I can tell they really like you — they’re at ease around you.”

“I get it,” Changmin assured, “And for what it’s worth, I think I’ll leave all the real parenting up to you… but,” He continued, “If you ever need a helping hand, then I’m also happy to be there as back up.”

“I really have had the best Christmas,” He admitted, smiling coyly once again, “who would have known this silly article could have changed so many things.”

Yunho just laughed, tipping his head back, “Well, I sure as hell wasn’t expecting this turn of events.” He admitted, smiling wider, “But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled about it.” There was a pause, the laughter between them quieting as a warm gaze slipped back onto their faces, “Stay the night,” Yunho asked, blushing slightly as Changmin raised his eyebrows, “I mean, you don’t have to, of course… but I’d kind of like to wake up next to you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Changmin agreed without hesitation. Nodding once, before standing up — it was already getting kinda late, and knowing that they’d have to get up early tomorrow, ‘now' seemed as good a time as any to call it a night, “Lead the way.”

Together, they made their way up stairs, Yunho giving him a whispered tour of the house before leading him into the master bedroom. It was a nice space — large, comfortable looking bed, built in wardrobe, and view over the street below.

They each got ready for bed, Yunho lending Changmin something to sleep in before they crawled into the covers.

It was warm, and safe, and familiar — lying next to Yunho, surrounded by the same sweet scent that always accompanied the other man, as he draped an arm over Changmin’s torso.

He let his eyes fall shut, body relaxing, and mind turning off. It was only too easy, after that, to drift off, allowing sleep to seep into his bones, and drag him down into the comfort of the other man’s arms, for the remainder of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays <33


	12. Away for the holidays

Waking up to a soft peppering of kisses, trailing over his cheeks, his jaw, his neck, his chest — was something that Changmin would never get bored of.

“Good morning,” Yunho whispered, his own voice still thick with sleep, “how did you sleep?” He asked, running his hand though Changmin’s bed hair to coax him out of his slumber.

“Mmh, so well, thank you.” Changmin hummed, pressing himself into the touch, as his eyes reluctantly fluttered open. The sight that greeted him, was worth every compliment his body wanted to give: Yunho was lying to his side, hair mused, eyes still slightly puffy, sleep shirt, falling dangerously open at the front. He looked beautiful.

Unable to help it, Changmin found himself reaching out. Hand smoothing over the soft material, and onto his warm chest.

Yunho just chuckled, linking their hands together before placing a kiss against his knuckles and dropping them down to the bed, “You’re so gorgeous, Changdol.” He murmured, placing another kiss against Changmin’s jaw.

“I could say the same for you,” Changmin croaked back, attempting to pull Yunho properly back into bed.

Unfortunately, against Changmin’s wishes, Yunho resisted his advances, instead, sitting himself up, and stretching his arms above his head — revealing a long strip of bare stomach for Changmin to ogle instead, “Stay,” Changmin yawned, pressing his head into Yunho’s side and allowing his eyes to drift shut once more. After all, it was _way_ to early to be up, they deserved at least another hour in bed.

“I can’t, sorry Changdol, I’ve got to get the kids up.”

At this, Changmin’s eyes flew open, body snapping to attention, “Oh yeah, _shit_ ,” he cursed, causing a burst of laughter to leave Yunho, “How could I forget that?”

“Its alright,” Yunho assured, continuing to get out of bed and making his way over to the door, “You don’t have to rush or anything — we’ve got about an hour before its time to leave.”

“An hour?” Changmin yawned, body protesting once again as he swung his legs out of bed, and reaching for his clothes from yesterday, “Okay, I think I can manage that…”

The night before, Yunho had explained how the day after Christmas, was always spent with his parents. After dropping the kids to school, he’d go straight to pick them up, before bringing them back to his for the rest of the day.

Because of this, the two men obviously wouldn’t be able to spend the day together (because as much as Changmin wished they could, he would be the first to admit, that he was in _no way ready_ to meet the parents…)

Because of this, Changmin would be using the day to finalise his article.

Slipping into the bathroom, he made quick work of showering and dressing, before towel drying his hair, and heading down to the kitchen.

Seeing that the family were yet to turn up, he decided to set about making breakfast, preparing a relatively simple meal for them all.

“Changmin?” Younghee was the first to enter the room, frowning in confusion when she saw him standing in the kitchen, “What are you doing here?” She questioned, obviously not having expected to see him come the morning time.

“Changminnie slept over last night,” Yunho explained quickly, helping his youngest into a seat at the table, before grabbing four bowls from a near by cupboard, and helping Changmin serve up the breakfast, “Thank you for this,” He murmured, bumping their shoulders together.

“It’s fine.” Changmin smiled back, ducking his head slightly, “I just thought I could help out a little.”

They ate as a group, the children complaining about having to go back to school, while the two adults shared their deepest sympathies.

Both Jiwoo and Younghee looked quite tired, the later than usual bedtime, obviously catching up with them. Because of this, their complaints soon died down, the two of them using the majority of their energy to concentrate on not falling asleep while they ate.

Yunho on the other hand, was wide awake. Fresh faced, and bright eyed, as he wolfed down the food Changmin had prepared — compliments spilling off of his tongue with every mouthful.

Changmin had absolutely no idea where he got this kind of energy from, his own head still slightly foggy as he indulged in his first morning coffee. Still, his enthusiasm was sweet, and Changmin couldn’t stop the blush that rose on his face, at each word that left the other man’s mouth.

Once they were finished, plates were stacked to the side, shoes slipped on and coats grabbed, before they were all piling into Yunho’s car, and setting off in the direction of Changmin’s temporary home.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Yunho began, reaching out to subtly squeeze at one of Changmin’s hands, “hope everything goes well today.”

“Thank you,” Changmin squeezed back, “I hope you all have a good day as well.”

A chorus of ‘bye Changmin!’ Followed him out of the car, both Younghee and Jiwoo waving him off with a sudden burst of energy.Then, they were gone. Yunho’s car pulling away, and continuing on, to their next destination.

With a new sense of lightness, flowing through his system, Changmin made his way back to the apartment.

He had work to do.

There really wasn’t much left to finish in his article, by this point. All he needed to do was: write up about Christmas itself, make sure he had everything that he wanted to include down, and complete a conclusive paragraph.

For once, he felt good, really good, about his writing. Head exactly where it needed to be, mind full of ideas and hands just itching to get typing. 

It was easy once he’d started, fingers moving quickly, thoughts flowing out and onto the document. He worked nonstop for a couple of hours, not allowing himself to take a break until, all initial ideas where down. It was exciting, to be this close to finishing — so close, that the end was finally in sight. All the time, all the effort and all the work put in, over the last few weeks, materialising right in front of his eyes.

***

By the time lunch had long been and gone, Changmin, grin on his face, and satisfaction flowing though his body, put the final full stop on his article.

It was finished. Done. Complete. Officially ready to be sent back to the main office, and checked over by the editors before being published for all to read.

If Changmin was being honest with himself, he was fairly proud with the work he’d written. Proud with the article that was sitting in front of him. It had been an unusually difficult process. Writing feeling more like a chore than something he’d usually love to do, but still, he had managed. Pushing though the writers block and the distractions and the boredom, to produce something he’d actually enjoy reading.

Now all he had to hope was that his readers would think so too.

Most of all, he hoped Yunho would like it. As it was, the other man had been a big part of getting to this point. Showing him the local spots, making him feel at home, helping him whenever he needed it. Without Yunho, Changmin could honestly say, that this article wouldn’t have been half as successful.

He smiled at the laptop in front of him, nodding once to himself, before closing the document down for the day.

***

The next day was spent, once again with Yunho.

The apartment was quiet, the sound of distant traffic, and the gentle intake and exhale of breath being the only thing to disturb the wonderful peacefulness that had surrounded the place. The two men were lying together wrapped in the warmth of Changmin’s bed covers, embraced. Away from the bustle of the outside world

“I think,” Yunho spoke into the silence, breaking the stillness as he rolled to properly face the other blissed out man, “I think I might be falling in love with you, Changmin.”

They had had a… productive morning.

After dropping his children off to school, Yunho had made his way over — meeting Changmin with passionate kisses, and wandering hands. Attention, that Changmin had been just too happy, to accept.

He didn’t hesitate, pulling Yunho in by the lapels of his coat, before hastily shedding him of his clothing. Off went the jacket, the jumpier, his t-shirt, scarf— removing any (and all) material that was getting in their way.

Yunho had approved eagerly with this progression, pulling at Changmin’s own shirt, as they made their way through the building and into the bedroom. “Changmin,” He panted out, hands trailing over his chest, spreading waves of heat as they traveled. “ _Fuck_ ,” He cursed, any words he’d been planing on saying dying the moment Changmin pushed him down onto the bed. Nesting himself between Yunho’s legs, as they continued their heated make out session.

They were breathing hard, hearts beating fast with the anticipation that sparked around their bodies, faces split with contagious smiles — the events of the last few days finally catching up to them and rendering them almost speechless. “Fuck, you’re so perfect,” Changmin groaned, lips moving against Yunho’s jaw, as he half kissed half bit his way down the other man’s neck. Spurred on by the sharp intakes of breath, and low moans that would slip so easily from his lips.

“I thought,” Yunho let out a chuckle, that was quickly swallowed by another gasp, “I thought nobody was perfect?” He chided, bringing up their past conversation right when he _definitely_ shouldn’t be.

“Fine,” Changmin let out a huff, pushing himself back up to meet Yunho’s gaze, “In a world where nothings perfect, you’re the next best thing.”

Any snort of laughter that Yunho was about to let slip, was once again replaced — this time, by a string of curses toppling out of his mouth, as Changmin’s hands reached down to work tantalisingly slowly on Yunho’s belt, “You tease,” he just about managed, eyes fluttering as Changmin’s hands skirted lower.

“Yeah, but you like me anyway.” Changmin just smirked, moving to whisper hotly in Yunho’s ear.

“Shit,” Another curse, “I do— _fuck_ — I really do.”

It was only now, some time later, bodies still entwined, and wrapped in the soft, warm sheets, that confessions began to slip out: “I think I’m in love, with you, Changmin.” He repeated once more, words sending a thrill of excitement, through Changmin’s body.

“Be careful,” He warned, smile growing, as he let out a stupidly giddy chuckle, “If you say something like that, I might start thinking the same thing.” He joked, fingers ghosting gently against a love bight he’d left on Yunho’s collarbone.

“Well,” Yunho seemed to consider this for a moment, sliding himself up, so that he could get a proper look at the other man, arms supporting him on either side of Changmin’s body, “would that be such a bad thing?” He asked, voice light and almost hopeful as he spoke.

Unable to help it, Changmin let out a chuckle, shaking his head slightly, “No,” He confirmed, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth to suppress the grin that was only continuing to grow, “I suppose it really wouldn’t…”

In front of him, Yunho blinked a few times, eyelashes fluttering prettily as he took in what Changmin had said, “So, um…” He coaxed, body practically thrumming with excitement, or maybe nerves, as he waited for Changmin to continue.

“So, I love you, Yunho.” Changmin confessed, laughing at the expression that had appeared on the other man’s face.

“You do?” The surprise in Yunho’s voice, only made him laugh more, nodding enthusiastically, while he ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, I do, I love you.”

“God,” Yunho breathed in return, leaning forward to connect their lips, and smiling into the kiss, “I love you too, Changmin. I really do.”

They spent many hours like that. Just comfortable in the embrace of each others arms, sharing lazy kisses, and quiet whispers —

Changmin adding this moment, to his ever growing list of things he’d never get bored of.

***

The last five days in the city were busy ones.

With the weekend quickly falling upon them, Yunho, now having explained his family commitments, invited Changmin to join them, on what would be his last weekend in the city.

“Changmin!” Younghee cried when she once again opened the door on the Saturday morning, barrelling out of the house and grabbing hold of one to Changmin’s legs.

“Hello,” Changmin laughed, patting her on the head, “someone’s a bit excited.”

“Daddy said you were coming over.” She explained, taking him by the hand and leading him into the house, “Daddy!” She called as soon as the door was closed behind them, “Changminnie is here.”

There was a slight crash from the kitchen, Yunho sticking his head around the door — large smile already in place. “Changmin, hi!” He greeted, walking out with Jiwoo following closely behind him, “I was just fixing the kids a snack, don’t suppose you want something, like a coffee or…”

“A coffee would be great, thank you.” Changmin agreed, slipping out of his coat and shoes as the group of them made their way back into the kitchen.

Together, they sat at the table. Younghee dragging Changmin to sit next to her, while Jiwoo perched happily on Yunho’s lap.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Changmin asked, once a comfortable silence had fallen over them — kids happily digging into their snacks, and quickly becoming quiet.

“Well,” Yunho started, taking a sip of coffee before continuing, “ _I_ thought we could just have a chill day where we relax at home and, you know, stay out of the cold.” He explained, “but according to some, that, would be _too boring_ , so instead these two have decided we need to visit one of their favourite places. So, how does the national park sound?”

Changmin let out a chuckle, “Honestly?” He started, “It’s sounds as if it would have been helpful for my article, maybe I should have gotten Younghee and Jiwoo’s advice right at the start.” He joked, watching as Yunho gasped in mock offence.

“Like you didn’t secretly love our little dates.” He counter argued, pouting cutely as he spoke. The thirty-three year old looking more like his kids, than he did a fully grown adult with two children, and plenty of real life responsibilities.

“I did,” Changmin admitted, smiling almost shyly as he thought back to their time together, “Besides, I’m just kidding, I’ll enjoy today no matter what we do.”

“You’ll like it there.” Younghee jumped in, nodding excitedly, “It’s so big and pretty, it’s my favourite place.”

“Yeah, because there are so many trees and places to play hide and seek,” Jiwoo agreed, eyes shining as he spoke.

“I can’t wait to see it.” Changmin turned his attention to both kids, patting Younghee on the head once more while he sent a smile between the two of them.

After finishing their snacks, Yunho sent Jiwoo and Younghee off to get ready, leaving him and Changmin together, alone for the first time that morning.

“Hey,” He murmured, once the little ones were out of sight.

“Hey,” Changmin whispered back, wandering over to where Yunho was currently positioned, in order to finally press a kiss against his ever so inviting lips.

Humming into the kiss, Yunho allowed his arms to slink around Changmin’s waist, pulling them until they were pressed chest to chest. “I’ve missed you,” he smiled breaking the kiss in order to properly look at the other man.

“Missed me?” Changmin chuckled, “It’s only been a few hours, I hate to say it but that isn’t looking very good for this kinda long distance thing, if we’re already struggling after less than a day.” Changmin joked back, running his hand through Yunho’s hair in a comforting manner, to show that he didn’t mean any menace to his words.

“Of course,” Yunho quickly back tracked, “I haven’t missed you at all.” He stated, words only serving to make Changmin laugh even more.

“I’ve missed you too,” he replied, leaning down for one more kiss before pulling away, “Anyway, we should probably get these packed lunches made, don’t you think?”

They had set off soon after that, driving to the edge of the city, passed the place they had gone on their hike, and off to the national park.

The kids were right, the place really was beautiful: trees stretching out over the landscape, woodlands, grasslands, paths trailing off into the distance. It was wonderful, even with the lack of leaves on the trees, and the overcast sky.

“Wow,” Changmin breathed, looking around as they set off on their walk.

“Yeah,” Yunho agreed, “It is pretty spectacular.”

They didn’t have long to take in the view, Jiwoo and Younghee racing ahead — calling out to them as went. “Let’s go let’s go!” They both chanted, waving to them from up the path.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming.” Yunho chuckled, linking his hand easily with Changmin’s in order to lead him over.

They walked for about an hour, reaching the summit of their hike, before settling down for a picnic. Changmin was impressed by the amount of energy both children seemed to have, no complaints slipping out of their mouths, even at some of the more challenging parts of the trek. The cold temperature also didn’t seem to bother them, wrapped up warm in the many layers that Yunho insisted they wore, and seemingly uncaring of the winter weather around them. But then again, maybe that shouldn’t be much of a surprise… after all, Yunho _was_ their father.

The views, from where they were now, were even more spectacular than the ones on the first hike. Landscape stretching out and city only just visible in the distance — hazy and almost unnoticeable with the sheer amount of nature around them. Once again, Changmin found himself breathing out sigh of wonderment — he made a mental note to take a trip to the national parks around Seoul.

“Are you guys ready for lunch?” Yunho asked, snapping Changmin out of his daydream, once the four of them had caught their breath, and taken in the views. His question was met with enthusiastic conformation from both children. “I thought you would be,” He laughed, ruffling Jiwoo’s hair, “Changdol, what about you?”

“Please,” Changmin nodded, turning himself away from the view, and into the impossibly soft gaze of the other man, “I’m starving after that walk.”

Together, they all made themselves comfortable on a bench, boxes of food shared between them, and warm flask of hot chocolate poured out into plastic cups. 

Taking in the area around them, Changmin couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

“What?” Yunho asked, turning to look at him with a quizzical expression, lips quirking in poorly concealed amusement.

“Nothing,” Changmin shook his head, laughing slightly louder when Yunho looked less then convinced, “It’s just,” He continued, smiling to himself, “maybe Gwangju has a lot more to offer than I was ever expecting…”

Now It was Yunho’s turn to snort, bumping their shoulders together, “You’ve only just come to that conclusion?”

“No,” Changmin denied, shaking his head, “it’s just taken me all this time to admit it.”

“Well,” Yunho grinned, holding his cup of hot chocolate out towards Changmin, “I’ll cheers to that.”

They made their way back down the trail soon after lunch, taking a slightly longer route to reach the carpark, in order to see some more of the park — passing a small river, and several large pine trees on the way.

By the time they battled their way through the evening traffic, and made it back to the safety of Yunho’s home, it was already nearing dinner time, and both children, were once again getting hungry.

“Shall we order a takeout?” Yunho suggested as they walked through the front door of the building, “I don’t know about you,” he chuckled, “But I can’t be bothered to cook tonight.”

Honestly, Changmin felt exactly the same. After the tiring walk, the last thing he wanted to be doing was standing for longer in the kitchen, no matter how much he usually enjoyed cooking. “You know what?” He laughed, “I think that’s a really great idea.”

“Yess!” Younghee cried out, fist pumping the air, while Jiwoo jumped up and down on the spot — obviously pleased with the conclusion the two adults had come to.

***

Much later, after the four of them had gorged themselves silly on tteokbokki, fried meat and veg, and watched enough Saturday night TV to last (Changmin at least) a life time, the two adults once again found themselves alone — Younghee and Jiwoo, quickly becoming tired, and heading off to bed, after their busy day.

“So what are your plans for the rest of your time in the city?” Yunho asked. He had just made himself comfortable on the seat next to Changmin, resting his head gently against his shoulder, as their hands automatically linked between them. “I mean,” he clarified, “is there anything you need to do work related or…” He trailed off, glancing up at Changmin.

“No,” Changmin shook his head, “the article’s finished, everything’s been ticked off and checked through, now all that’s left to do is get it published.” He smiled, running his thumb over Yunho’s knuckles, “So, what I’m trying to say is: I’m all yours.”

Sitting up slightly, Yunho let out a low groan, “Don’t tempt me, Changdol.” He practically drawled, eyes tracing over his face before falling onto his lips.

“Why?” Changmin challenged, smirk clear in the voice.

“Changmin,” Yunho complained, whining slightly, “my kids are _literally_ just up stairs…”

“Okay, good point.” Agreed Changmin, chuckling slightly, as Yunho pressed his head into Changmin’s shoulder. “But still, I mean it, I’m free to do whatever you want, for the next few days… so, let’s make the most of it.”

“Oh, _we will_ ,” Now it was Yunho’s turn to smirk, moving to press a kiss against his neck, before trailing them up to his lips, “believe me.” 

They had spent the next few minutes like that — shrouded in the warm glow of the living room lamp, sharing sweet kisses, and just enjoying each other’s company.

It was around half past midnight, when they eventually made their way up to bed, Changmin slipping back into a pair of Yunho’s sweat pants, before climbing into bed.

  
  
***

The two days leading up the New Years eve, seemed to move in a flash.

On Sunday, Yunho got his wish of a lazy day, spent chilling at home.

Due to the busy day, and relatively late night, Younghee and Jiwoo ended up sleeping in, making the most of their weekend, by staying wrapped on in the warmth of there bedcovers.

They had eventually gotten up, bringing blankets, pillows and stuffed toys down with them, in order to snuggle up in front of the TV for the rest of the day.

Changmin couldn’t complain, a day of rest was exactly what he needed.

Yunho and him had spent the majority of their time in the kitchen, leaving the children to enjoy their downtime, and chatting comfortably over warm coffee.

It had been relaxing, and relatively calming, sitting in a house that now felt familiar, and home like. Just spending time with Yunho, while his kids entertained themselves in the next room. He was going to miss this. Relaxing with Yunho, chatting to him, just spending time in his presence. It would be hard — facing the city, facing work, facing the people he’d have to see there, with the knowledge, that he couldn’t just run off to this whenever he wanted to.

Still, a two and a bit hour train journey really wasn’t much to worry about, on the scale of things. They weren’t _that_ far away from one another, and the journey was even shorter by other forms of transport. Even so, Changmin couldn’t help but want to hold on to this period of time, for as long as he could.

However, much to both men’s disappointment, time couldn’t be stopped. Changmin had finished the work he’d set out to do, and soon enough he’d be onto the next article — that’s just how things worked. Time didn’t slow for anyone.

This time however, when heading out into whatever work and life in Seoul might throw at him, he’d have Yunho by his side, and maybe even weekend trips to Gwangju to look forward to.

Noticing his mind wander, Yunho linked their hands together, gaze tender and warm, while he lead him into the living room. They ended bundled up together under the many layers of blankets that had been brought down by the children — neither one of them seeming to mind that the adults had crashed their slumber party — not paying them any mind, as they continued to watch whatever was on TV.

It worked as a distraction, for the most part. Changmin leaning into Yunho’s touch, as the other man massaged his fingers through his hair — easing the tension that had formed there.

***

Monday rolled around sooner than expected. Changmin and Yunho only exiting the house, after a morning spent in each others arm, to go back to their favourite coffee shop.

It was notably a lot less festive as they entered, decorations having been mostly taken down, and Christmas songs replaced with standard pop. Strangely, Changmin found he kind of missed it — another reminder that the season that had brought them together, was well on its way out.

As bitter sweet as it was, the start of a new season was also kind of exciting. They had a lot to look forward to, in the coming year.

“It almost seems strange,” Changmin started, they had just sat down at a table for two, coffees placed in front of them, as they made themselves comfortable.

“Strange?” Yunho questioned, taking a sip of his drink, while he waited for Changmin to continue.

“This place, without the decorations…’ He explained, smiling slightly at the expression of confusion on Yunho’s face. “I mean, don’t you think it looks kind empty without all the snowflakes…”

At this, Yunho couldn’t help but burst into laughter: “Who are you, and what have you done with Shim Changmin?” He questioned, shaking his head at what he just said, “God, what have I turned you into — don’t tell me you actually _like_ Christmas now?”

“Pfft, I wouldn’t go _that_ far.” Changmin scoffed, “No, Christmas is still just an excuse to spend money and over eat, don’t worry I haven’t changed that much.”

“Few,” Yunho laughed, “I was worried, for a moment there.”

At his statement, Changmin let out a laugh, “But, I do have to admit, it can actually be kind of fun… to celebrate with those you love.”

In front of him, Yunho’s laugher quietened, almost goofy smile slipping onto his face, “I love you too.” He replied without hesitation, holding onto Changmin’s hand as he coaxed him to look up.

The kiss they shared was short, sweet, and exactly what Changmin needed. The flavour of coffee lingering against their lips.

Changmin was the first to break the moment, grinning as he said his next words: “Thank you, for making this holiday _bearable_.”

“You’re very welcome,” Yunho chuckled in return, “same thing next year?”

“Oh, definitely.”

***

New Years eve seemed to go by in a flash — Changmin finishing his packing in the morning, before heading over to Yunho’s just after lunch.

He had been greeted by the usual excited chatter of Yunho’s children rushing to the door as soon as it had been opened, and swarming him before he could even get a word in edgeways to them all.

“Come on you two,” Yunho chuckled, herding the two of them back into the house, and allowing Changmin to properly step in, “let him at least come inside before you mob him.” He finished, flashing a bright grin at the laugh this pulled out of Changmin.

“Hey, what are you two being so clingy for?” He questioned, ruffling their hair, before stepping out of their way, and hanging his coat and scarf up.

“Cause daddy said you’re going home tomorrow.” Younghee explained, sticking out her bottom lip and frowning sadly at the thought.

“We don’t want you to leave!” Jiwoo joined in, stomping his foot as if to prove just how much they wanted him to stay.

“Oh dear,” Changmin cooed, crouching down beside them. “I know, I want to stay for longer too, but its okay, you have me for all of today!” He tried to reason, knowing this probably wouldn't do much to counsel either child.

“Please stay, Changminnie.” Younghee pleaded, making Changmin’s heart melt a little at the sincerity of her words, “Daddy wants you to stay too.” She continued, as if that statement would be able to change Changmin’s future plans and commitments. 

Listening to what she said, Changmin couldn’t help but glance up, making direct eye contact with the other man. Yunho’s gaze portrayed the same impossibly soft expression that it always did — throat bobbing slightly, as if attempting to conceal a wave of strong emotion. “I know,” Changmin nodded, eyes not leaving Yunho’s, “yeah, I know, I’m gonna miss you guys a lot.” He admitted, allowing both children, to move in for a hug, before Freeing himself of their grasp, and slipping a hand around Yunho’s waist.

“But right now,” He continued, trying to brighten the suddenly gloomy atmosphere, by plastering on his most convincing smile, “I get to hang out with you guys for the rest of the year! So how about we get started with that cooking? You two go wash your hands, and me and daddy will see you in there, okay?” He stated, watching as the two kids nodded enthusiastically, any sadness from before disappearing in a second, as they rushed off to get ready.

“I really will miss you.” He repeated, this time for Yunho’s ears only, turning to face him, before leaning in and connecting their lips together — hoping his action would speak louder than his words alone.

Thankfully, Yunho understood perfectly, cupping Changmin’s cheek gently with one hand before pulling back and smiling sweetly at him. “I know,” He acknowledged, “and I’ll miss you too. But we can do this, I just know we can.” He nodded, an affirmation for the both of them. Hope, excitement, enthusiasm for the future beginning to settle in their chests — warm and familiar.

They spent the majority of that evening preparing and eating the traditional new year dishes. Plates piled high with delicious, mouth watering food, littered the table, the four of them happily digging into the meal, with bright smiles, and loud laughter.

Changmin had shown the family how to cook some of the more complex recipes. Teaching them some of the tricks and tips to make it easier. “I think I’m gonna have to get you to help me every year,” Yunho confessed, looking at the state of his newly prepared mess of ingredients, verses Changmin’s perfectly neat ones.

“I mean, practice makes perfect.” Changmin laughed, swiping a bit of sauce from a near by bowl, and wiping it cheekily against the other man’s cheek. “But then again, he added,” When Yunho let out an equally loud laugh, flicking the same sauce in Changmin’s direction, “If you want me to come over every year… then I think that could definitely be arranged.” He nodded, smiling widely at the thought.

They had eaten together, the noise of the radio creating a quiet background soundtrack to their meal. Excitable chatter filling in the spaces in between.

Once they had all eaten way too much. They moved themselves from the dining room to the living room, collapsing onto the comfortable sofa, and sinking into the large soft cushions.

Changmin felt completely relaxed and blissed out, stomachs full of good food and good alcohol, body warm and mood bright.

Unlike Christmas, he’d usually enjoy New Year’s Eve a lot more — sometimes celebrating with family, sometimes going out with friends. He couldn’t help but think about them all now. The people he cared about, back in Seoul. He smiled making a mental note to call, or arrange a visit once he arrived back. He hoped they were having as much fun as he was.

“What are you thinking about?” Whispered Yunho. The two of them were once again sat side by side, legs pressed close, and shoulders brushing. Noticing his far off expression, the other man had lent over pressing his lips against his ear in a soft murmur of words.

“I’m thinking about my friends and family back home.” He admitted.

“Do you miss them?” Yunho sounded almost concerned as he spoke, as if worried that he was the person stopping Changmin from being with them right now.

“Well,” Changmin thought about the question, “obviously I miss them... I always miss them a little, but” he continued, lacing their fingers together, “that doesn’t mean I’d rather be in Seoul tonight.”

Yunho didn’t reply at first, smile turning warm as his eyes trailed over Changmin’s face, as if trying to map out every curve, every mole, every scar. The pink in the cheeks, the flutter of his lashes. “I’m glad you're here — with us.” He eventually settled on.

“Me too.”

The night progressed, classic New Years television playing in the background, while the group had their own fun — laughing, playing, chatting — that, by the time midnight was fast approaching Changmin was taken by surprise when the count down started.

“It’s starting!” Younghee cried, jumping up from where she was sat on the floor, and joining in with the countdown.

Jiwoo did the same thing eyes fixed on the TV with a sense of wonderment.

Sharing a glance and letting out a chuckle at the two kids, Yunho and Changmin also joined in. Hands still linked, eyes more on each other than the screen in front of them.

“Five” they called in unison.

“Four”

“Three”

“Two”

“One”

“Happy New Year!” A cheer went up around the room, kids jumping with excitement, fireworks flashing on the screen.

Seizing his moment, Yunho turned to Changmin, gently cupping his jaw and leaning in, “Happy New Year, Changdol.” He whispered.

“Happy New Year.” Changmin agreed, leaning in to close the last space between them.

The kiss was soft, warm, familiar. A promise for the future, a silent confession sent between the two of them. Changmin found himself humming into it, heart full as he thought back to everything that had happened during this month alone.

It was so wonderful, being with Yunho, spending time with him and his family, that it hadn’t even dawned on him that today had been the day of Hun’s wedding. The invitation still crushed at the bottom of his recycling bin, back home.

But even now, this thought suddenly popping to the front of his mind, Changmin found he really didn’t care. Instead, letting it become washed away by the sensation on kissing Yunho, and everything else that came with this.

He was in love.

He was in love, and happy, and more content than he’d felt in a long time.

The couple were interrupted by a loud giggle and an even louder “Eww!”

The two of them broke apart, turning their heads towards the sound, and coming face to face with Jiwoo and Younghee.

It was rather clear by their expressions, just which one had laughed and which one hadn’t... Jiwoo’s eyes curving happily, while Younghee stuck her tongue out in mock disgust. “Daddy,” she whined, crossing her arms at him.

“Aw don’t pout baby girl, come here.” Yunho cooed, allowing them both to crash their moment with big hugs and sloppy kisses on each cheek.

Changmin didn’t mind, smiling brightly as the two children settled down between them. “Happy New Year, you two.” He whispered, noticing the tired behind both of their eyes — they’d both be needing to head off to sleep sooner rather than later.

True enough, it was less than ten minuets later, that the two of them started yawning, Jiwoo rubbing at his tired eyes, and Younghee beginning to nod off on the sofa.

Seeing how tired they were, the two adults worked together to carry them both up stairs, Yunho picking up Younghee, as Changmin carried Jiwoo. They were both fast asleep, by the time they got to their bedroom.

Once the two kids had been tucked comfortably into bed, Yunho and Changmin took one look at each other, before deciding to do the same thing. As it was, Changmin had to catch a train tomorrow morning, and the only place they wanted to be now, was safe and warm, wrapped in each others arms.

***

They had woken that morning in a tired tangle of limbs, both men reluctant to leave to comfort of the bed, and face the reality of the day. Putting it off for as long as possible. Eventually the need for food, was the thing to get them moving. Linking hands as they left the cocoon of bedcovers, and make their way into the shower.

By the time they were washed, dressed, and fed, it was already time to leave.

Together they had checked on the kids, both offering nothing more than a sleepy wave, and a murmured goodbye before slipping back into dream land.

Seeing this, Yunho had just laughed, deciding that they could sleep in — it wasn’t like he was going to be gone for long, after all.

“You ready?” He asked Changmin as they headed for the door.

Changmin nodded, “Yeah,” he agreed, “I recon so.”

They swung round to the apartment, Changmin picking up his suitcase, and making sure he hadn’t left anything before they once again loaded themselves into Yunho’s car.

In the same fashion as when he arrived in the city, the drive back to the station wasn’t long.

Changmin watched the scenery blur around him, chatting casually with Yunho as they made their way though the city and towards the station.

It was weird, leaving the city. A place he thought he’d hate by the end of the month, slowly but surely turning into somewhere he loved. He felt lucky that now, with Yunho and his family living in the city, he had all the excuses he needed to come and visit. And maybe, if he was being honest, they were the reason he’d fallen in love with the city in the first place.

Yunho pulled into the short stay carpark, reversing into a space before turning off the engine.

For a moment, there was silence. The car falling still, and the two people inside it keeping quiet.

“So...” Yunho started, “how long is it till your train arrives?”

Changmin checked his watch, watching the second hand tick over a few spaces before answering “around ten minutes.” He stated, looking up and catching Yunho’s gaze easily.

The other man just nodded, eyes once again trailing greedily over his face, before the two of them were pushing forward and into a kiss.

It was harsh and needy. The desperate want to stay close, and be with each other for just a second longer taking over — breath mingling, hands fumbling.

It was Changmin that came to his senses first, lips quirking into a smile, as he subsequently broke the kiss between them. “Yunho,” he murmured, faces still inches apart, “I have to go.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” Yunho replied with a chuckle, leaning in for one more kiss before reluctantly pulling away. “Okay, let’s go.”

They held hands as they waited on the platform, Changmin’s suit case by their side, small crowd milling around them. It was a cold day, but neither one of them minded too much. Wrapped in their almost matching scarfs — clasped hands acting as mittens against the icy air.

Ten minutes wasn’t a long time, and before both of them knew it, the train had been announced, and was making its way into the station.

“This is me,” Changmin stated somewhat obviously, while he fumbled for his ticket.

“I know,” Yunho laughed, giving his hand one more tight squeeze before letting go, “Hey!” He said, noticing the bitter sweet expression on the other man’s face, “I love you.”

Unable to help it, a grin spit across Changmin’s face, eyes scrunching as he darted in for one final kiss, “I love you too.” He mumbled loud enough for only Yunho to hear, before he too was letting go, and walking away.

“Text me when you get home.” Yunho called after him, waving as he make his way over to a carriage door.

“I will,” Changmin promised, “Tell the kids I say bye.”

“I will.”

With those final words, Changmin was stepping onto the train and making his way into the carriage.

Letting out a sigh, he dropped into his seat, just as the train began to move away from the platform — watching as the station, and Yunho in turn, disappeared from sight.

A sense of longing began to settling into his chest. _Already?_ He thought shaking his head slightly at the smile that formed while thinking of Yunho.

Who would have known such an unremarkable article, could lead him to something so new, so exciting? Filling him up with happiness, and making him fall in love.

And at Christmas, of all times...

For once, he had a good feeling about things to come. A strange sense that no matter what, no matter the distance or the time apart, things between him and Yunho would only continue to thrive. And Changmin, for one, couldn’t wait to see where it took them.   


  
_Away for the holidays_

_By Shim Changmin._

_With special thanks to Jung Yunho, without whom this article would have been a lot different._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re done!! 
> 
> Thank you so so much to everyone who has gotten this far through my fic and especially to those who have left kudos and comments so far, I really loved seeing what you thought about the different Chapters ☺️☺️
> 
> This fic ended up being somewhat of a struggle to write at times, but I’m really happy to have it out for you all to read now~~ 
> 
> Thank you to Teeg for, as always, helping me throughout this, and being a wonderful beta — you are always a big big help!! 
> 
> Thank you again for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this Christmas themed fic, and hopefully I’ll see you in the next one <333


	13. Epilogue: One Year Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, long time no see! I hope you are all doing well and keeping healthy~~ 
> 
> When I first finished this fic back in December, I received a few comments about wishing their was one more chapter or an epilogue of some sort, and so, here it is! I had originally planned to write this a lot quicker and get it posted while it was still winter, however I ended up being super busy and before I knew it, it was already well into spring and I didn't have more than an outline. 
> 
> Thank you for waiting for me, I really hope you enjoy this little glimpse into their life!! 
> 
> And thank you to Teeg who as always was a great help during writing this~~

Friday the 18th of December. 

One year later. 

Changmin stood inside the waiting room of the train station, arms folded protectively over his chest while his eyes flicked between the platform and the station clock; watching with bated breath as the second hand ticked repetitively towards the minute mark. It was almost five p.m, and the train that Changmin was so desperately waiting for would be arriving in any minute. 

It had been a cold winter, dark frosty mornings quickly turning into dark snowy mornings. And even now, as the month of December hurtled along towards the new year, fresh snow was continuing to fall outside, settling quietly across the streets and turning Seoul into more of a winter wonderland than it already was. 

Noticing this, Changmin couldn’t help but smile, allowing a quiet hum of laughter to slip between his lips. It was quite fitting, he felt, that the city he called home would put on such a display of beauty just in time for Younghee and Jiwoo’s first visit. From where he was standing, he could already see several different Christmas themed areas just waiting for a couple of bright-eyed children to come and see. They were going to love it. 

It was safe to say Changmin was fairly excited about the upcoming weekend, having planned meticulously with Yunho to make it happen and spent a long time preparing for the day to come around — Christmas in Seoul, or rather as close to Christmas as they could get, the couple choosing to go with the weekend before the big day in order to fit things around both of their busy schedules (Yunho in particular having his usual family commitments that he couldn’t bare to miss). Still, despite it not being quite as they had wished, it was still exciting, and still giving each of them what they wanted: The kids having the chance to visit a brand new city, and Yunho and Changmin getting to spend time together. 

Part of him could hardly believe it had already been a year — a long, but ever so rewarding year filled with joy, and excitement, and happiness. The new couple seeming to go from strength to strength as they navigated the world of long distance relationships. It had been new for the both of them, and somewhat terrifying, especially in the early months, but Changmin couldn’t help but think back with fondness now — remembering clearly how it had felt falling back into his old routine, when he himself felt like a vastly different person. 

***

It had been a bright morning, when he headed back to work for the first time since getting back from Gwangju, Changmin walking in with a new spring in his step and his head held high, no longer feeling any dread or longing connected with a certain ex who he’d still (unfortunately) be having to share the office with. As always, he spotted Hun as soon as he entered the building, eyes seeming to hone in on his whereabouts like an automatic response. However, unlike before, when the sight of him would make Changmin want to cry, this time he simply felt nothing. Turning away with a smug smile, he instead walked over to one of his colleagues, quickly striking up a conversation. 

“Changmin, did you have a good time in Gwangju? I read your article, and I have to say: for someone who claims to hate Christmas, you sure do know how to sell it!” 

“I resent that comment,” Changmin laughed, leaning against the desk and picking up the issue with his article on display. He was very proud of the work he’d complete over the past month, scanning his eyes over his words and allowing them to linger on Yunho’s dedication. He hadn’t told his boyfriend that he’d be including the little thank you note, secretly hoping he’d appreciate the sentimentality. Which, if the cute, bordering on soppy text he received that morning was anything to go by, it seemed he did indeed. Looking at it now, he couldn’t help but smile, using his own words as proof that everything that took place over the month of December really had happened. “Besides, I never said I hate Christmas...” he lied, “I just don’t always appreciate the the capitalistic, money making agenda the majority of the world seems to be obsessed with... but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the other stuff, you know spending time with loved ones — it makes the celebration special.” 

“Right...” His colleague seemed a bit confused, eyeing Changmin in such a way that suggested he’d just grown another head. 

Before they could say anything more however, another colleague came over to join them glancing over Changmin’s shoulder before bringing up the topic he had been waiting for: “So who’s Yunho?” She asked, a glimmer of mischief in her eye as she spoke: “It’s unlike you to dedicate your work to anyone.” She continued, nudging Changmin on the arm, and waiting for him to explain himself. 

A small group had formed around them by this point, several other colleagues hearing the conversation and wanting to get in on the juicy new gossip.  _ Journalists _ , Changmin rolled his eyes, deciding to play them at their game as a sly smile of his own flicked onto his lips: “And wouldn’t you like to know?” He scoffed, folding his arms and darting his eyes from person to person, before resting them back on his article. 

The same warmth that always appeared when thinking about Yunho, bloomed in his chest. A part of him (and a big part at that) wanted nothing more than to show off his new relationship, to gush dramatically about his winter romance and how perfect his Christmas had been. But another _more logical_ _part_ , told him to keep it on the down low… for now, at least. It was still early days after all, there was no need to rush, or overshare. And besides, he kind of liked the air of mystery that surrounded the topic. He’d tell them eventually of course, but not yet, no, for now they could wait. 

“Are you really not gonna tell us?” The same colleague complained, resting her hands on her hips and looking at him in mock disapproval. 

Hearing her whiny tone of voice, Changmin’s facade broke a little, stupidly tender smile appearing on his lips as he continued to avoid all eye contact: “Yunho, is Yunho.” He eventually settled on, “He’s special to me.” He ended in a shrug of nonchalant, closing the magazine and removing himself from the group, in order not to spill more than he was willing to go into for now. 

Across the room, sitting at his own desk, Hun caught his gaze — eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation before turning away with a huff, back to his own work. 

Changmin suppressed the urge to let out a snort of laughter, shaking his head before heading over to his work space. He couldn’t help but feel a little smug at the fact that Hun, and his wedding, hadn’t once come up in conversation throughout that morning’s gossiping. _ Serves him right,  _ he thought happily, settling into his desk chair, and flashing up his emails — he had work to do, and there was no way in hell Hun was going to get in the way of that. 

***

It hadn’t been long at all before the couple made plans to meet again — Yunho driving all the way from Gwangju in order to spend the weekend with him. 

It had been cold that day as well, Changmin couldn’t help but reminisce, shivering slightly where he was standing in the station and burying his face in the familiar scarf that was wrapped around his neck; it still smells like Yunho, all warm and sweet and addictive. He breathed a little deeper, allowing the scent to surround him and metaphorically warm him from the inside out. 

Changmin had been at his apartment, when he got the call: an out of breath and giddy sounding Yunho explaining how he  _ just had to see him _ , and that his kids were staying over at their grandparents for the weekend, “So if your free... or more importantly, if you’ll still have me, I can drop everything to come and see you.” He had said, hopeful voice not quite hiding the minor nervousness in his words. 

And well of course, Changmin couldn’t say no to that, “Yes, I’m free! And gosh Yunho, of course I’ll still have you — I love you, you idiot.” He agreed as a fresh sense of excitement bubbled up inside him. 

At his words, Yunho had chuckled: “I just had to be sure,” he replied, “and Changmin...” 

“What?” 

“I love you too.” 

It hadn’t taken long to secure plans, the two of them finishing their conversation quickly in order to get Yunho on the road. 

Traffic had been kind to them that day, and it had taken just over three hours for Yunho to arrive, making his way into Changmin’s apartment with a spring in his step and a grin on his face: “Changdol,” he greeted as soon as the front door had been pulled open, revealing an equally happy Changmin. However, before he could get another word in edgeways, Changmin had already pulled him in — arms wrapping around his neck as he crashed their lips together. 

Bliss. Euphoria. Changmin had missed this. The feeling of Yunho: his lips against his, his arms slinking around his waist, the hum of appreciation that started low in his chest — kiss only breaking when neither one of them could contain their smiles any longer. “I missed you too.” Yunho murmured, leaning his forehead against Changmin’s in an attempt to stay as close as possible. 

“Shut up, it's only been a month...” Scolded Changmin, his soft, bordering on tender tone of voice betraying his true emotion and conveying just how much he had missed him over the past few weeks. 

“I know. But one month is too long, don’t you think?” Countered Yunho, connecting their lips in a softer, longer kiss as he walked them back into Changmin’s apartment. 

They didn’t leave the safety of Changmin’s home for the next twenty-four hours — limbs tangled as they lay comfortably in a nest of bed covers, hands lazily linked as they re-familiarised themselves with each other. Skin on skin. Lips against lips. 

“I missed this,” sighed Changmin, it was late evening by that point, pastel pinks blending into dark blue outside his bedroom window and illuminating the couple in all their glory. Yunho had his head rested against Changmin’s chest, ear positioned directly over his heart, while Changmin ran his hand soothingly through the soft hair on the nape of his neck. They had been quiet for some time, content just to be together in the stillness of the evening — the distant city life only a background murmur. “Missed you, missed us like this.” He continued, eyes half shut as the rambling words spilt over his lips and landed heavily in the silence. 

“Me too,” Yunho didn’t hesitate with his reply, shifting up until he could hover just over Changmin. Arm braced on either side of his body, in order to gaze down at his peaceful lover. “We should make more time for things like this.” 

“Yeah,” Changmin nodded, fingers trailing gently down Yunho’s chest, as he attempted not to become obviously distracted by the other man’s beauty, “I’d like that.” 

It was easy to fall into some kind of routine after that, the couple putting aside more time for each other — phone and video calls becoming more regular and free weekends being used to travel to and from either Seoul or Gwangju to make the most of their days off.

As time went on, Changmin couldn’t help but look forward to those days in particular — holding tight to the knowledge that it wouldn’t be long before they next found their way into each other’s arms. 

It was nearing the middle of may by that point of the year, and the news that Changmin had found himself a man in Gwangju had well and truly been and gone — flowing through the office before disappearing as a fresh wave of gossip flooded in. And, in all honesty, Changmin couldn’t be happier. In the end, it had been almost impossible to hide it from his colleagues for so long; Changmin’s unusually bright mood being a dead giveaway to anyone that may have had the good fortune of speaking with him during the months before that fateful December. In the end, Changmin hadn’t fought too hard to keep it to himself, eventually gushing all about his new partner and their time together over the Christmas period. Speaking loudly, and maybe (just maybe) enjoying the way Hun’s expression turned sour whenever the topic was brought up in the work room. 

Five months had passed since they first met. Five wonderful months of love and passion and companionship, and Changmin couldn’t help but feel rather proud of them both. They’d taken a bit of a gamble entering into this long(ish) distance relationship, and it felt good to know that even after all this time (and all the time apart no less) their feelings were just as strong — just as significant. 

“I was wondering...” it was around ten p.m., and Changmin and Yunho were half an hour into their video call, just chatting idly and sharing any news, when Changmin decided to breach a topic, he’d been thinking about for some time, “we’ve been together for a while now,”

“Five months exactly, in a week's time,” Yunho nodded, waiting for Changmin to continue. 

“Yeah, well, I was wondering,” he repeated, “would you be up for meeting my friends the next time you come over... it just, I’ve met yours and they’re interested in meeting you and well, I don’t know, I’d like you to meet them — and vice versa, of course.” 

Even through his phone’s screen, Changmin didn’t miss the way Yunho’s expression lit up, his smile becoming even brighter than it had been before as he began to nod enthusiastically: “Changmin, I’d love to meet your friends. You’ve told me so much about them, it would be great to finally put a face to their names. 

Letting out a smile of his own, Changmin agreed to set up a meeting, feeling eager to finally collide his two worlds together. 

And that was how, a little over two weeks later, Changmin, Yunho, Kyuhyun and Minho all found themselves sat comfortably in a busy bar — pints of beer sat in front of them, while Changmin’s two best friends grilled his not-so-brand-new boyfriend within an inch of his life. 

“So what,” Minho began, raising his eyebrow at Yunho, “ you meet Changmin and he just happened to be your type and exactly what you were looking for? I gotta say man, I find  _ that _ hard to believe.” he scoffed, sending a playful wink in Changmin’s direction as his attempt to irritate his close friend succeeded. 

“Well,” Yunho found himself spluttering at the question, feeling his cheeks heat up from more than just the warmth of the crowded bar, “I can’t say I was really looking for anyone, per se... but I would be lying if I didn’t admit to being drawn to him from the start, I mean let’s just say our first meeting really left a lasting impression on me...” 

“ _ Oh I’m sure it did _ ,” Kyuhyun snorted, reaching across the table to bash Changmin gently on the arm, “what did he do, please tell us, we’ve both been dying to know just how the two of you met? Changmin’s said he’s told us the story already, but Minho and I reckon there’s more to it...” 

“Um well...” Yunho glanced across to Changmin, looking noticeably unsure of whether or not he should answer the question. Changmin felt himself regret setting this meeting up in the first place. 

In the end he let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of the nose before deciding to put Yunho  _ and _ both his friends out of their misery: “I thought Yunho was breaking into the apartment I was staying in, when in fact he owned the place, so I rushed out to beat him up with a pillow...” he explained. 

“And...” Kyuhyun coaxed, taking the blush that continued to spread up Changmin’s face as an indication that there was something else behind the story.  _ God _ , Changmin hated that his friends knew him so well. 

“And I was only wearing a dressing gown at the time...” 

As the words left his mouth, the opposite side of the table erupted into laughter. Both Minho and Kyuhyun take great pleasure in finally finding out the truth behind Changmin’s story (and definitely filing the information away for future teasing). 

“Fuck, no wonder you pretty much asked him out there and then man, I can totally see why that might leave a lasting impression!” Minho clapped his hands together, brushing a fake tear of amusement from his eyes as Yunho’s face turned an unnaturally bright shade of red. 

“I um, didn’t ask him out straight away... I just gave him my number and told him I was happy to help out... it wasn’t really anything to do with what he was wearing, or how attractive he was, I um,” Yunho knew he wasn’t helping the situation by this point, but felt strangely compelled to keep speaking, “I just wanted to help out — honest! There were no other motives.” 

This statement only brought about new laughter to the friends in front of them, Minho laughing so hard that he had to lean dramatically against Kyuhyun’s side. 

Changmin, however, didn’t care enough to notice, eyes roaming over Yunho’s face as he took his hand, “And you did help — in more ways than one.” He smiled, moving in and pressing a kiss against his pink cheek, “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve helped me through.” 

“You have already,” Yunho corrected, brushing his fingers against the side of Changmin’s face before leaning into a real kiss — noses brushing as their lips met. 

In front of them, the laughter quietened down, Changmin breaking the kiss in order to send a fierce glare in his friends direction. A fierce glare that faded away the moment his eyes landed on the other men: both Kyuhyun and Minho were gazing fondly as the couple, expressions soft, and teasing smiles replaced with genuine happiness as they watched the two of them interact. 

“Hey, we didn’t mean to take the piss.” Minho was the first to apologise, “Look, me and Kyu, we’ve been trying to get this asshole off his ass and onto new things for so long, but in the end, he managed to find someone without any input from us whatsoever, and man, I couldn’t be happier for the two of you.” 

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun agreed, gaze traveling from one person to the other, before settling on Yunho “anyone that can put up with Changmin’s shit for over five months has got to be at least a little bit perfect. But Yunho... no hard feelings or anything, but as that assholes closest friend, I feel obliged to say this:” he cleared his throat, his once kind eyes narrowing into a hard, cold glare, “If you ever fucking hurt him, if even think of doing something like his bitch of an ex did, I will personally see that you get the rough end of the deal, understand?” 

From the other side of the table, Yunho nodded, seeming more confident then he had since the interrogation process had begun: “You don’t have to worry,” he stated, gaze unwavering as he looked towards Kyuhyun, “I could never do something to cause Changmin any pain or suffering. You have my word on that.” 

Kyuhyun seemed to accept that answer, eyes softening once more as he raised his glass towards Yunho, “Good, that’s what I was hoping to hear.” 

*** 

“That went okay, didn’t it?” Some time later after bidding Changmin’s friends goodbye and heading back to the apartment; hectic evening behind them and sleep in front of them, Yunho had spoken up, eyes searching Changmin’s for reassurance. 

“Yeah.” Changmin nodded, “that went well — they like you, I promise, they only ever act like that around people they’re trying to impress or show off in front of. It’s a good sign, believe me.” 

“Okay,” Yunho let out a drawn out sigh, followed by a laugh, “I swear, you’d think I was meeting your parents for the first time, not your best friends.” He joked, toeing off his shoes and draping his jacket by the door before flopping dramatically onto the sofa. 

“Luckily for you, those two are ten times worse than my parents. And besides, you have nothing to worry about with them either. They’re gonna love you.” As he spoke, he began to massage the tension out of Yunho’s shoulders, taking the sigh of contentment as a sign to continue. 

*** 

As the summer rolled around, Changmin once again found himself in Gwangju for an extended period of time. This time living in the comfort of Yunho’s family home rather than the apartment he had become so familiar with before. 

It was early July, and Changmin had used his vacation days as a perfect opportunity to escape the confines of his apartment and visit Yunho and his family; excited to spend more than a forty-eight hour period with them. 

And this time, he had two weeks with them. Two whole weeks spent away from home and work and responsibilities. He would have hated it once, choosing to work until his boss practically forced him to take a week's leave, but not this time, no this time he’d jumped at the chance, him and Yunho having made plans long in advance. 

Things had been going well for Changmin over the past few months. Really well. He’d been placed in charge of a whole new section of the paper — being handed story after story to write and follow up on. The Seoul City had been recognised as a highly regarded news provider and, to top it all off, Hun had resigned — deciding to take his “talents” elsewhere, meaning Changmin no longer had any worries whatsoever about having to face his ex either!

He’d worked hard, and by this point in the summer, felt he’d earned some time off. 

Pulling up to the front of Yunho’s house, Changmin smiled, quickly turning off the ignition and grabbing his bag before heading towards the front door. It was Saturday morning, meaning everyone would be home, and expecting his arrival. As soon as he reached the entrance, he could hear the sound of cheery pop music playing inside — noise only making him smile more, as he knocked twice, and stood back to wait. 

Instantly the house seemed to fall quiet, music being paused before what sounded like a mini stampede headed his way: “Changmin!” It was Younghee, it was alway Younghee who answered the door, her bright smile beaming up at him as she practically launched herself at him, not caring about the way Changmin staggered back slightly. 

“Hi Younghee,” he greeted, ruffling her hair much to the little girl’s shrieks of annoyance, “Wow you’ve grown so much,” he complimented once she had stepped away, “you’re gonna be as tall as your daddy soon enough.” Younghee seemed to glow at his comment, puffing out her chest proudly as she took him by the hand and led him inside. 

Looking up, Changmin wasn’t at all surprised to see Yunho waiting for him in the hallway, smile impossibly soft as he gazed upon the two of them — Jiwoo stood just in front of him with an equally happy expression. 

It didn’t take long before the youngest child was rushing over for his hug as well, gripping hold of Changmin’s leg as a loud giggle left his mouth. “Hello Jiwoo,” chuckled Changmin, “it’s lovely to see you both too... but would you lovelies mind letting me take my shoes and jacket off?” Reluctantly both children agreed, stepping away and instead rushing off towards the living room, the same pop music form before beginning to play out once again. 

Now alone, Yunho made his way over, allowing Changmin to slip his arms around his waist and pull him closer, “See,” he smiled, eyes glancing in the direction his kids had run, “I told you they missed you.” 

“And I never doubted they did.” Changmin laughed back, “for what it’s worth, I missed them too, and you of course.” He added, just in case it wasn’t obvious. Instead of replying, Yunho just connected their lips in a soft, slow kiss, pouring all his emotions into the action. 

“Can I get you a drink?” He said once they’d pulled apart, “coffee, water, beer, wine?” 

“Um coffee would be great, thank you. Do you mind if I just drop my stuff off to your room?” 

“Of course,” Yunho agreed, giving him one last peck on the lips before heading towards the kitchen, I’ll see you in a moment.” 

The rest of that day had been spent relaxing in the back garden, Yunho and Changmin basking out in the sun, while the children played on the grass. It was wonderful, the scent of flora thick in the air, buds that had been planted the year before blooming in bright colours. It was perfect, and as Changmin sat there, beer bottle (that had quickly replaced his coffee as the sun began to set) in hand, he couldn’t help but feel relief flood his system. It was good to be back. 

The week progressed, and as expected, Younghee and Jiwoo had had to head back to school, leaving Yunho and Changmin alone throughout the majority of the day.

As it was summer, Yunho was undeniably busier, his holiday properties becoming even more popular than they were for the rest of the year — with families and couples alike turning up for long weekends and city breaks, meaning Yunho’s time was taken up with regular apartment switch-overs. But still, they made do, using all the free time they did have to chat and kiss and laugh together, until it was time to pick the kids up, of course. In which case the more mature adults would reappear once again, preparing something for dinner and getting ready for whatever Younghee and Jiwoo might want to get up to, for the evening. 

It really was a wonderful couple of weeks, Changmin once again falling easily into the little family routine’s and feeling genuinely disappointed when his time once again came to an end. It was always hard, having to leave at the end of a perfect holiday, Younghee and Jiwoo being just as sorry to see him go as their dad was. Unfortunately, Changmin really did have to leave — a fact that wouldn’t chance no matter how long he spent in the warm embrace of Yunho. The two of them indulging in one last wonderful kiss before parting ways for another few weeks. He’d be back. He knew he would be. But it didn’t change the fact that he wished he didn’t have to leave in the first place. 

Changmin couldn’t help but miss the summer sun now, shoulders braced against the chill December breeze. He checked the station clock once again, sighing when he saw Yunho’s train had been delayed by a few minutes. He rolled his eyes,  _ of course the perfect winter weather would be the thing to make him wait just that little bit longer.  _

*** 

Before Changmin had even realised, summer had turned into fall. Bringing with it cooler days, golden sky’s and a fresh spark of inspiration: “I think I want to start writing...” He had said one evening. Him and Yunho had been chatting on the phone for little over an hour when the words just kinda fell out of his mouth, dropping directly into the conversation and disrupting Yunho’s flow. 

“But, you are a writer?” Yunho had chuckled, not seeming to mind the sudden change of topic. 

“True.” Changmin laughed, “But I don’t mean journalism, I mean fiction, books. I think I want to write a novel.” 

“Yeah? Well, I think you should go for it.” 

“You do?” 

“Definitely!” Yunho agreed, “I mean, from all the little stories you’ve written my kids over the past months, I’d say you’ve got the talent.”

“Alright,” Changmin found himself nodding along, “I think I’m gonna give this a shot then… I mean, I’ll have to discuss things with work first, but I really feel now is the perfect time to try.” 

Things had become busier for him after that. Changmin, attempting to juggle both his usual job responsibilities, on top of working on the first draft of his novel. It was exciting and new, and something Changmin had been wanting to do for a long, long time. However, with his new commitment came new hurdles and unfortunately, even less time to visit Yunho and his family, Changmin finding himself missing them desperately on the harder days. 

Thankfully Yunho, being the perfect boyfriend that he was, still made time to come and see him, trying to travel down every few weeks, and making sure to chat with him regularly. It kept Changmin going; kept him working. A constant reminder to keep trudging on when everything else in his life was telling him to give up. Meaning, that by the time winter was well on its way in, Changmin was deep into his first draft, and still feeling mostly positive about his writing process. Sure it wasn’t easy, and as always some days writing just seemed to come easier than others, but it was rewarding, appealing to Changmin in a way writing seldom had for a very long time. 

The clock on the station wall ticked over to 5:05, just as the train announcement rang through the waiting room, and the train itself finally made its appearance. 

With a fresh sense of excitement welling up inside him, Changmin made his way towards the barriers; unfolding his arms, and keeping an eye out for the people he was most eager to see.

In the end, it wasn’t at all hard to spot them, Yunho appearing out of the crowd, as his two (boarding on hyper) kids practically dragged him away from the train, and towards where Changmin was waiting for them. It was an adorable sight, something Changmin couldn’t help but chuckle at, waving enthusiastically as the family bounded toward him. “Hey,” he laughed, allowing Younghee and Jiwoo to smother him in hugs, as he turned his attention towards Yunho, “how was the journey?” 

Letting out a loud huff of air, Yunho sent Changmin a look that said:  _ I’d rather not talk about it... _ Changmin couldn’t help but laugh a little louder, noting his exhaustion and deciding it was time to lead the group towards the exit. 

The journey from the train station to Changmin’s place wasn’t long at all, However with Younghee and Jiwoo at the forefront of the group, it took twice the time it usually would, the two of them looking around in wonderment at the tall buildings and bright lights and decorations that lined the streets in front of them. 

Despite their obvious excitement, they thankfully stuck close to the two adults, Younghee taking Changmin’s hand, while Jiwoo held on tight to his dad. They made quite a sight really: the four of them, walking around like some kind of family parade. To any onlookers, Yunho and Changmin would probably be mistaken for dads out with their children. Changmin found he wouldn’t mind if they did, relishing the opportunity to pretend that he and Yunho were just another family out in the city at Christmas. 

Eventually they made it home, Changmin leading both children into his office that would be doubling up as their bedroom for the next couple of days. 

“Your home is so small!” Exclaimed Younghee upon her arrival. The two children had rushed into his apartment the moment the door had been opened, running through every room and looking around in confusion at the lack of aforementioned rooms. 

“Now Younghee, that’s not a very nice thing to say.” scolded Yunho, fixing his daughter with a stern expression. 

“But daddy I wasn’t being mean, it’s cute and small, I like it!” She argued back, pouting dramatically as she began to bounce on the bed that had been made up for her. 

Seeing her expression, Changmin couldn’t help but laugh: “It’s alright. Besides, it is pretty small.” He agreed, “But as I live here alone, I don’t really need anything bigger.” 

“Apart from when daddy comes over.” Jiwoo added. The quieter of the two children sat calmly on the other bed, swaying his legs over the side while he watched the conversation flow back and forth between the other three. 

“Yes that’s right,” Changmin agreed, “I’m not alone when daddy’s here, but it will be extra busy with you two little monsters running around.” Both kids let out a defiant shriek, which soon turned into high pitched giggles. Standing in the doorway, Yunho glazed over the scene with an expression of warmth, tired eyes meeting Changmin’s own as his smile seemed to grow softer. “Right,” Changmin spoke up once the laughter had died down, “while you two make yourself comfortable, how about I show daddy to his own room?” Neither child was really listening by this point, too distracted by all the new things around them to really care about the adults slipping quietly out of the room. 

“You alright?” Changmin asked once they’d made it into the quiet of his bedroom. 

“Yeah,” Yunho smiled, “just tired, I forgot how exhausting it can be taking your kids on public transport.” 

“I can only imagine,” Changmin sympathised, stepping into Yunho’s space and easily linking his arms around his waist. “You’re welcome to have a nap before dinner, if you’d like? I’m sure I can keep the kids entertained for an hour or so.” 

“Thanks, but don’t worry, we’ve only got the next two days together, I want to make the most of it.” 

“Alright,” Changmin agreed, a smile stretching across his lips as he pulled Yunho closer — finally closing the distance between them with a slow kiss. Allowing himself to indulge in the feeling of Yunho’s lips against his for a few blissful seconds. “I’m glad you’re here.” He eventually concluded, pulling back from the kiss in order to run his fingers over the other man’s cheek. 

“Me too.” Yunho agreed. 

His eyes flicked back down to Changmin’s lips, looking as if he was about to dive in for another kiss when: “Daddy, Changmin? What’s for dinner? Jiwoo said he’s hungry.” The couple pulled reluctantly apart, sharing a quiet chuckle before turning towards the kids. 

“Well, what would you like?” Asked Changmin, leading the family towards the kitchen as different food requests were called out by the two little ones. 

*** 

It was a few hours later, after a successful dinner, that the long day began to catch up with the two children, Yunho taking them off to bed, before Joining Changmin back in the living room. “They’re asleep,” he yawned, sinking down into the soft sofa, and resting his heavy head against Changmin’s shoulder. 

“And so should you be,” cooed Changmin, hand stroking comfortingly through Yunho’s hair, as he watched him practically doze off in his embrace. 

“No, not yet.” Mumbled Yunho, “We haven’t had any time to just talk yet.” 

“Shhh, there’s time for that.” Changmin reassured, “We have all weekend, remember. But right now, you need to sleep.” In the end, Yunho agreed without an argument, allowing Changmin to lead him into his bedroom before collapsing into the soft covers. 

“Mhm, you're bed’s so comfy, Changdol.” 

Changmin didn’t reply, watching fondly as Yunho’s eyes slipped shut and his body drifted off into sleep. They had time. They had plenty of time, and right now, he was more than happy just to let Yunho catch up on all the rest he so obviously needed. He’d thank him in the morning. 

***

And thank him, Yunho did. The other man showing his appreciation through the press of his lips, waking Changmin up with kiss after kiss. Mouth leaving hot trails over his neck, and down his chest before dipping lower to explore the soft skin of his stomach. Actions leaving Changmin gasping and needy, hands threading themselves into Yunho’s hair, as he practically begged for more. 

They did eventually get up, showering quickly before parting ways — Yunho going to wake his children, and Changmin to start breakfast. Then before either of them knew it, the apartment was once again alive with the sound of excited children and the promise of an interesting day ahead of them. 

***

The time had just ticked over to half past ten, by the time the group of four left the warmth of Changmin’s apartment. They had had an enjoyable morning, chatting and catching up over a hearty breakfast, before setting out the plan for the day: Shopping. That’s right, apparently the one thing the kids (or more accurately Younghee) wanted to do with their time in Seoul, was shopping. And more importantly Christmas shopping. The two of them excitedly leaping around and asking Changmin all about the different shops and markets they would be visiting that day. 

“Changmin Changmin, do they have markets like in Gwangju? I want to eat lots of street food, and buy some chocolate!” Exclaimed Younghee, once again latching herself onto Changmin’s hand and practically dragging him out of his front door.

“Changmin Changmin, can we visit a toy shop? I want to go into a really big one!” Added Jiwoo from his position beside Yunho — eyes big, and hopeful, and impossible to say no too. 

“We can do all of those things,” Changmin chuckled, sharing a glance with Yunho as the two of them shook their heads at the children’s requests. Chocolate and cuddly toys… yeah, that was Younghee and Jiwoo alright. 

Their first stop, after making it through the rush of public transport, and into the main shopping district, was a Christmas market. Both Younghee and Jiwoo being instantly captivated by the ornate decorations, bright lights and cheery music, and rushing off to gaze in awe at one of the displays. 

“Be careful you two,” Yunho warned, as Jiwoo almost skidded on a patch of uncleared snow, and into an elderly lady. Neither child payed their dad much mind, giggling loudly before becoming distracted once again by the products for sale. 

“It's so pretty,” Younghee sighed, picking up a delicate looking decoration and showing it to both Changmin and Yunho, “I really like this one.” 

“I’m sure you do, sweetheart.” Yunho smiled, gently taking the decoration out of her little hands and placing it back on the table, “But glass decorations can be very fragile, so it may be best to look and not touch, okay?” 

“Okay, daddy…” She pouted, quickly turning away from the display and towards where Jiwoo was looking at a table of handmade dolls. 

His eyes were wide, mouth open as he tried to reach for the closest toy, chubby arms not quite long enough (to both Yunho and Changmin’s relief) to reach the one he’d set his heart on. “Teddy,” he smiled, looking hopefully between the two adults as if willing one of them to take his bate and buy him the toy.

Unluckily for him, neither of them were going to fall for that act, “Aw Jiwoo, you see those toys are more for decoration than for playing with, when we go to the toy store you’ll be able to see all sorts of toys that aren’t so fragile.” Changmin reasoned, hoping the child would understand him enough to not start crying in the middle of a market. “Anyway,” he changed the subject, bringing the attention of the group over to him, and away from the expensive/breakable items, “Younghee, didn’t you say something about wanting some chocolate? I think I can see a stall selling some over there.” 

“Oh yeah!” The little girl cried, interest peaked by Changmin’s words as she moved to rush over to the table he had indicated towards. 

“Good thinking,” Yunho chuckled as the two of them followed the kids further into the market, “at least chocolate won’t cost a lot of money if it gets dropped or broken.” 

“Exactly,” Changmin laughed along, “besides, it will make Younghee happy and keep the two of them occupied for the rest of the market, at least.”

It did in fact keep them busy. The two children hardly paying attention to the other stalls in the market and thankfully not asking or picking up any more trinkets, much more interested in munching their way through the sickly Christmas chocolate they had chosen. With the kid’s no longer running off at any second, it gave Yunho and Changmin a chance to relax, hands linking as they kept a watchful eye on Younghee and Jiwoo, making sure they didn’t get too far, but also allowing time to enjoy themselves together. 

***

“This is nice,” Yunho whispered, brushing his and Changmin’s knees together under the table, before placing his hand against his leg. 

“Yeah, this is nice.” Changmin agreed easily, tilting his head to gaze at Yunho as a soft smile slipped onto his face. It was nice. It was really nice. The four of them eating street food in the middle of a Christmas market, surrounded by all things merry and just generally enjoying each other's company. 

He couldn’t help but laugh at that realisation, thinking about how much had changed in just one year. 

“What?” Yunho questioned at the sudden bubble of laughter, his own grin brightening considerably. 

“Nothing,” Changmin shook his head, laughter continuing to spill over his lips, “it’s just, me of last year wouldn’t have believed I’d ever put myself through something like this.” He explained, indicating to the location they were in and the Christmas cheer that was all around them. It was safe to say Changmin, of years gone by, would never have been found  _ dead _ in a place like this. Yet now, a year older — a year wiser, and a year more in love, he really couldn’t think of any better way, to spend the weekend before Christmas. 

***

After finishing lunch, the group of four made their way towards the main shopping centre, and in turn: the ever so anticipated toy shop. Yunho and Changmin exchanging smiles as both children took one look at the front window with all its Christmas goodies on display, and ran into the entrance, eager to see the magic inside. 

It had been a long time since Changmin had stepped foot inside a toy store, not having needed to since he himself was a young boy. So now, many years later, he couldn’t help but gasp quietly at the sight in front of him: There were rows upon rows of toys lining the store, some in boxes, some on display — piles of soft toys just waiting to be gifted, and loved by some lucky child. The whole shop had obviously been transformed for the season: Christmas decorations strung up in abundance, staff all dressed in festive wear, and music playing out through the in store speakers. It was overwhelming in the best kind of way, and more than enough to make any child lose their mind with excitement. 

“Wow,” Changmin breathed out, looking around with the same wonderment as the two kids in front of him, “I don’t remember things being like this when I was young…”

His statement pulled a laugh out of Yunho, “Welcome to Christmas in the twenty-first century, Changmin… I think you’re gonna like it here.” He teased, knocking their shoulders together before the two of them were dragged forward and into the shop.

***

Eventually, after having to pry the two children away from the armful of toys they were so desperate to leave with (and after some sneaky buying from the two adults) the four of them left the shop, and headed home for the day. Tired, but happy with all the shopping they’d managed to get done. Christmas shopping, Changmin thought, was tiring enough on the best of days, so after a solid six hours spent running around after two extremely excitable kids, it was safe to say, he was pretty exhausted. 

They arrived home just before five p.m., Yunho helping his children wash up, and get ready for a lazy evening, while Changmin ordered takeout, then the four of them lounged out in the living room, eating food, and watching crap T.V., until both kids became tired and Yunho took them off to bed. 

“They’re completely wiped out,” he commented as he entered the living room once more, dropping down on the sofa, and making himself comfortable by Changmin’s side. 

“I bet they are,” Changmin agreed, “and honestly, I’m pretty tired too.” He finished, laugh quickly turning into a yawn as if to prove his point. 

“You did well today,” Mumbled Yunho, as he stifled his own yawn, “I don’t know many people who’d put up with my two, as calmly as you did today.” 

At his words, Changmin couldn’t help but smile, “Well, I want this to be a happy memory for them, and besides your kids are really great I don’t feel I have to ‘put up’ with them at all.” 

“But really, thank you. Christmas can be weird… well, for me at least… and what I’m trying to say is, it means a lot to me… to all of us, that we’re here — with you. Making happy memories.” 

“I know,” Changmin assured, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss against Yunho’s lips. They had had many conversations about Yunho’s late husband, Changmin being there to support him through the bad days, as a shoulder to cry on, and a reminder that he was loved. But still after all this time, a part of Changmin felt privileged to be confided in with such a personal topic, knowing just how much trust Yunho had to have in someone to open up in that way. “I love you.” He added, noticing the distant look that had appeared in Yunho’s gaze. 

In front of him, Yunho smiled, brushing a strand of hair away from Changmin’s eyes: “I love you too.” 

***

Sunday went by in a flash, Changmin using all the available time he had left with Yunho and the kids, to take the family sight seeing. This, unlike the shopping trip from the day before, was something he was actually looking forward to doing. Seoul was a beautiful city, somewhere he genuinely enjoyed living in (despite how he might complain about it from time to time), so having the opportunity, to take his three guests out, to all the sights of the city, was high on his list of things to do. 

They set off in the morning, Changmin and Yunho loading themselves up with bags of food and drink, before heading out. 

Together, the group of four hit all the sights... well, all the sights that were in a close enough vicinity, and interesting enough to keep two young children interested. For the most part, it was fun, and genuinely interesting. Both kids taking a big liking to the art museum in particular and managing to spend a good portion of the afternoon looking around it. 

Unfortunately, as all good things must, their time together had eventually come to an end. Changmin, Yunho and his two children stopping back off at the apartment with just enough time to eat some dinner and grab their bags before they were once again heading back towards the train station. 

Then, before Changmin could even blink twice, he was back in the waiting area, Yunho and his family still by his side while they waited for the train to be called. They had been quiet for a few seconds, Yunho using his time to organise himself and his children before turning to Changmin, “I wish we had more time.” He murmured, eyes conveying the same bittersweet emotions Changmin was feeling. 

“Me too.” He agreed, “Maybe one day we won’t have to say goodbye... maybe one day I’ll be coming home with you — to our home.” He added, hand squeezing at Yunho’s own as he allowed himself to fantasise about a future together. 

Beside him, Yunho squeezed back, smiling: “I’d really like that.” He nodded, leaning forward in order to capture Changmin’s lips in yet another perfect kiss. A kiss, that was unfortunately cut short by the announcement of the train. 

And then there was a rush of hugs, and kisses, and  _ goodbyes, _ and _ see you soons,  _ and  _ I love yous.  _ And once again, Changmin found himself alone in the station, waving to his precious family and already planning his next trip to see them. 

It was hard saying goodbye, and honestly, Changmin felt it always would be — the feeling of missing Yunho as ever present as the feeling of loving him. But by that point, after a year of love and trust and communication, Changmin knew they could get through anything. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!


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